The John Coltraine of Baden: Ziereisen's Protege, My New Micro Production Low Yield Pinot Noir Star

Micro Production
Very, Very Low Yields. Ledy/Lalou Like
The Protege of Likely the Best Red Winemaker in Germany
 - The Wines Are Amazing Now
 - A Generational Talent

Very Limited (He Makes Almost No Wine)
 - These Will Be Allocated at Some Point Very Soon

2015 Max Geitlinger Wein Spätburgunder
 - Ethereal Nose: Loads of Spice and Bowls of Cherries - Baby Chambolle
 - Palate: Juicy, Sappy Cherries with Terrific Energy
 - Beautiful Texture and Laciness
 - Drivingly Honest, Linear Precise Wine That Happens to Be Stunningly Delicious

2015 Max Geitlinger Wein Pinot Noir (His Grand Cru)
 - Big, Ebullient Pinot Nose
 - Outrageous Palate Density
 - Explosive Palate with Amazing Tiny Berry Intensity
 - Structure like a Brilliant Unique Piece of Architecture
 - I Have Almost None of This

I got a new Pinot star in Germany. Oh yes. I got tiny quantities (a few cases of the 13 and 14 "Grand Crus") and doled them out. I had to work with the wines because a) they were genius wines and b) I wanted to get in the door. I'm in the door and I have a bigger allocation for perhaps the best vintage of young Max yet, the otherworldly 2015s. Today I'm starting with his 1er Cru, his Liaison, his Alsheim Spätburgunder (Juwel), and on and on. Add it to the list of under $30 German Pinot that is just not fair to other Pinots in the world. It really is not fair anymore if you're a $30 Pinot from not anywhere that's not Germany from the growing cadre of people in the Red Riesling camp of German Pinot styles. Believe me there are a ton of Syrah and oak styles that are ghastly that I taste so you don't have to. Anyway onto Max.

The Story
Max Geitlinger came at the recommendation of the same person who recommended Marbleous in Winningen. My visit with him was one of my favorite visits of the trip last August. I arrived in the small village of Egerten and Max was waiting for me. I told him what I usually like to do when I visit growers for the first time. See some vineyards, go to the cellar and then taste. That's the best way to do it and with a new winery that is the only way. We went to a few vineyards and they all were just perfect. Max uses no herbicides or insecticides and is firmly in the respect nature camp when it comes to his vineyard work. He has very, very low yields. Ledy/Lalou like. He makes 2 Pinot Noirs, a Muller Thurgau and two and maybe now 3 Gutedels (Chasselas). There's also some Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunièr).

Tasting Max's wines was just a revelation. It might have been the happiest I've been that entire year (2017). No joke. Max makes his wines at the cellar of Hanspeter Ziereisen who is also a good friend of his. I can't think of another person better to learn from than Hanspeter Ziereisen. That's why I call him the John Coltrane of Baden; Jazz great John Coltraine (A Love Supreme, Slow Blues, Equinox) was a famous protege of the brilliant Miles Davis. 

These wines remind me of Hanspeter's Pinots except they maybe are even more focused and linear. The style here is restraint, purity, freshness and linearity. These are straight as an arrow. I was blown away by these and I know all of you will be. Not only because the wines are great but because we are living in the Golden Age of German Pinot Noir. It's like Burgundy in the 30s!

Up first is the 1er Cru as I like to call it. The 2015 Max Geitlinger Wein Spätburgunder for

$29.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack. This is something no one has to think about. I wish I had this in Liaison like numbers but I don't. The wine is as nimble as a Chambolle. It's from Feureheim nearby where Max has his cellar. It's all limestone soils and the color is the first thing that captivates you. He sent this to me when I was in Burgundy in February and even in the Mecca of Pinot this was a wine to make many a Burgundy lover jealous. The color is just glorious. It has that Pinot color where you swoon. You cannot see through it but you can seen how someone could try. Its got that color that is alluring. The best way to describe it is if Ziereisen and Enderle & Moll had a baby it would be this wine. That color. But it also extends to the style, aromas and more. I love that I'm finally comparing Spätburgunder to other Spätburgunder and not Burgundy. The nose is beautiful. So ethereal as only the best "Red Riesling" style can be. Loads of spice and cherries that just waft from the glass. Bowls of them. So much mineral from the limestone soils. It's like a baby Chambolle. It's so intoxicating. It jumps out of the glass. It has that nose like a great Liaison. With wave after wave after wave of beauty. Fruit, spice, so many cherries, and a firm limestone footprint. The palate lives up to the nose. It's stunning. It's a mid-weight wine with juicy, sappy cherries. Red, black, cherry. An explosion and so so pure. It's insanely juicy. It has that energy and just engages you so much because of how great it is and how it crushes so much other Pinot that you've had or have sitting in the cellar. I really think that is part of the joy of drinking all this Spätburgunder. Everyone that buys it know how great it is. It's been 3-4 years (longer!) for the big Spätburgunder heads on the list. It's Spätburgunder club. And it really has not caught that on as much as I thought it would. Anyway the palate. It's ethereal and juicy at the same time. Has a texture and laciness to it that is stunning and singular. It's at once stylish and charming but it's also a wine of terroir and place. It's so nimble and juicy. The finish is long, pure and pitter patters out so naturally. Full of vivid fruit spice and mineral. So nimble. It's Red Riesling. This is limited.

I also have a small stash of Max's Grand Cru from 2015 that he has given me. I offered this before and it's being delivered this Fall but I will take all he gives me. The 2015 Max Geitlinger Wein Pinot Noir for $39.99 a bottle today on a 4-Pack is an insane wine that I think will age wonderfully. Of course it will drink well young. But this wine is stacked. Just a stunning, stunning wine.

The nose.  Great great Pinot. Big Pinot nose. Very ebullient and expressive. So many light yet vivid red cherries. This wine is firmly in the red fruit camp. Sick, sick, sick nose with amazing purity and depth of aroma. Almost a honeyed aspect develops with air. Loads and loads of spice.  Sappy berry/cherry aromas with such detail and purity it's not even believable this can come from a tiny estate in an area no one has ever heard of. You can smell the nose and smell all the hard work Max puts in in the vineyard.


The palate is just stacked. Outrageous palate density. Structure like a brilliant unique piece of architecture. Something like a Gehry. The fruit is so gorgeous and so restrained yet also so sweet and full. The vintage lifts the fruit as 13 and 14 were a tad more restrained. Explosive palate with amazing tiny berry intensity. The low yields lead to the amazing fruit intensity and sweetness. You can tell every grape is perfect, tiny and dense. The purity is astonishing. The inner mouth aromas are vivid and well defined and even have some florals in there amongst all the deep cherry fruit. Color like a great red burgundy. Man is this chiseled and linear. Amazing and unlike any German Pinot I've had  before. Ripe sweet velvety tannins. Undeniable freshness and purity. Such clarity and balance. Poised and balanced. A restrained flamboyance is the best way to describe this wine. It is stunning and not to be missed.

2015 Max Geitlinger Wein Spätburgunder - $31.99 ($119.96 4-pack) 

2015 Max Max Geitlinger Wein Pinot Noir - $41.99 ($159.96 4-pack)