A Major New Discovery from the Heart of the Alps: One of the Great Swiss Winemakers, Möhr-Niggli

Among the Prettiest / Most Elegant Pinot Noirs I've Ever Tasted

2019 Möhr-Niggli Pinot Noir Maienfeld
- Learned To Make Wine at Dujac, Méo-Camuzet, Rousseau and Jean Stodden (Ahr) 
- Style Here is All Finesse, Delicacy, Wispiness (Think Bertheau in Chambolle or Enderle & Moll in Baden)
 - In the Heart of the Swiss Alps
 - So Haunting and Ethereal
 - A Satiny Texture like Enderle & Moll
 - Nose: Bright, High Toned and Beautiful
 - Mid Season Cherries. Sour Cherries
 - Sweet Berries
 - Elegant Spice
 - A Hint of Burgundian Earthiness
 - Elite Purity
 - Palate: Stunningly Beautiful
 - Explosive Mid and Early Season Cherry Fruit
 - Unreal Texture
 - Gorgeous, Cleansing Mineral Finish
 - Decadent Sweet Cherry Fruit

 - Awesome Value at $35.99

The Story

While we have dabbled in Swiss wine it's almost like we cheated in that Ziereisen has some land in Switzerland but it's really just an extension of Baden as it's only 15 or so miles across the border. Plus I work with them already and they started the project while that was happening so of course I got samples and offered the wines. But even before that moment I had been Swiss-curious. On a particularly intense

trip to Germany and Italy I took two Sundays off in Switzerland. One in Zurich and one in Luzerne. The drive from Stuttgart to  Novara, Italy through Switzerland cannot be beaten. Just majestic views of rolling hills and sweeping mountains and the cleanest air one can imagine. That's the terroir of Switzerland for me. That clean, mountain alpine air and all the things ones associated wish that. Flowers, sap, pine, all types of herbs. Red currants. Black currants. Just an amazing freshness and cleanliness to Switzerland that is captivating.  The wines reflect this character and why I have fallen in love with them. There is a delicacy, precision and nimbleness that is uniquely Swiss and makes these wines special and world class. 

Möhr-Niggli

The vineyards are in the heart of the Swiss Alps and Matthias and Sina, the couple behind Möhr- Niggli, have about 15 vineyards and their own internal classification system. They make two pinot noirs wines which reflect the officical classification. They are all aged separately for 10 months minimum. They taste constantly during the aging period.  There is obvious evidence from the beginning of this tasting process which is going to go it to the 1er Cru "Pinot Noir" and the Grand Cru "Pilgrim." The vineyards are so green. Vegetation fills all the rows. They are sustainable and use organic practices. The vineyards never retain water and have top drainage and they have a slight altitude. 

The Style

These are some of the prettiest and most elegant Pinot Noirs I've ever tasted. They are haunting and ethereal. There is also structure for what seems like great aging potential.  The Grand Cru is more Chambolle while the 1er Cru, which I have on offer today is more Volnay,  but they are uniquely Swiss. They are defined by their delicacy and wispiness that is allied with extreme Swiss precision and a texture to die for. 

The Wine

Today's wine is the 2019 Möhr-Niggli Pinot Noir Maienfeld for $35.99 a bottle each on a 4 pack. Maienfeld is famous for being the setting of the 1889 story "Heidi" by Jonathan Spyri so this is as Swiss as it gets. 

The 1er Cru Möhr-Niggli Pinot Noir is aged in used barrels for 10-12 months and this is the best introduction one can get to elite Swiss Pinot Noir. A Swiss sommelier on Instagram that I know says in Switzerland they call Möhr-Niggli "poor man's Gantenbein" which is the most famous and expensive estate in Switzerland. Think DRC/Keller/Coche. Matthias and Sina also were reading my blog and were very happy to here that I work with Ziereisen as the grew up close to them and have great respect and

admiration for them. 

This wine is so haunting and ethereal and subtle. There is a resemblance to another new producer none of you have tasted yet but will taste very shortly. That is Jürgen Von der Mark from Baden. These have a subtlety to them that I also find in Jürgen's wines. Maybe it's the umlaut! I kid I kid. These have a texture like Enderle & Moll that is so satiny, nimble and elegant but also a completely different mineral/earth abs fruit profile. But that elite haunting texture is there. 

Nose is bright, high toned and beautiful. Lovely mid season cherries. Sour cherries and such purity. Really refined and aromatic. Gorgeous aromas of cherry, sweet berries, an amalgam of spices, stunning earth and a deep penetrating minerality. Very high toned and super bright. Just so aromatic with tremendous depth. Also an earthiness that is really reminiscent of Burgundy more than Germany. 

The palate though is where this really picks up steam, unreal texture and just so  stunningly beautiful. Wow. Opulence on the mid palate then this gorgeous, cleansing mineral finish. So finessed and filigreed. Nimble and energetic. Decadent sweet cherry fruit awash in minerals. So refreshing but also complex and deep. This is excellent. The energy, stunningly pure and unique fruit and how the minerality presents itself this is really stand out. Superb wine. After air it only gets better. Palate is so juicy and silken with just explosive mid and early season cherry fruit. A supple and alluring texture and sweet but just sweet fruit that really stakes a claim on your palate. Very minimal tannins and extraordinary balance and purity. This is a true ballerina style wine. It's so nimble but also full of flavor. Has great length and just the right amount of sap. Really fresh and invigorating acidity. Love the texture as well. Really compelling wine. Like E and M but not natural. This can be drunk now and over the next 5-7 years I think. 

Matthias & Sina

This is the couple behind Möhr-Niggli and Sina is originally from Maienfeld and her family also has a winery. Sina was born in the vineyards as they say. She met Matthias, who has a background in soil science and caught the wine bug as his family has a small winery in Maisprach which is 15 miles away from Ziereisen. In 1994 Matthias worked his first harvest in Mendocino. After he came back he did an apprenticeship for one year in the Valais. This is the most prestigous and biggest wine region in Switzerland. Then I studied winegrowing and winemaking in Wädenswil by Zurich. Since 1999 he was the lead winemaker for a Swiss project called "VINA ROBLES" in Paso Robles. After he met Sina in 2005 they decided to go on with Vina Robles for a while. They came back in 2010. Since then have focused on "MÖHR-NIGGLI."

2019 Möhr-Niggli Pinot Noir Maienfeld - $37.99 ($143.96 4-Pack)