Monet's Water Lilies: A Wine That Is a Thing Barely Transformed from Nature: Jurgen Von Der Mark's Grand Cru Suis Je Gentile Ainsi?

  Jürgen Von der Mark
 - Fewer Than 500 People Have Passed the Master of Wine Exam
 - One of the Top Wine Tasting Palates on Earth
 - He Intentionally Under Prices His Wines to Make Sales Easy
 - To Create A Thing It Is Necessary to Know the Thing
 - The Absolute Top Tier of German Pinots
 - With Mobitz Retired, Our Most Burgundian German Pinots
 - Some of the Most Brilliantly Subtle, Complex Pinot Noirs I've Had

"The winemaking is very gentle. JvM doesn't really extract Pinot Noir, he rather prefers an infusion."  - Stephan Reinhardt

The Song Series
 - Von der Mark's Grand Crus
 - Each Named for a Song
 - These Are Elite Level Pinot Noirs
 - Would Cost a Fortune in Burgundy

2015 Jürgen Von Der Mark Spatburgunder "Suis Je Gentile Ainsi?"
 - Nose: Dizzying Aromatics
 - The Most Insane Spice Ever
 - Cardamon, Clove, Tar
 - Cherry Flower, Alluring Sour Cherry, Cranberry
 - Earth Overtones
 - Incredibly Elemental
 - A Thing Barely Transformed from Nature
 - Palate: So Elegant
 - Sweet Tangy and Textured Fruit
 - Sappy and Pure
 - Insane Inner Mouth Aromas
 - Lovely Complexity and Depth
 - Sick Freshness

2017 Jürgen Von der Mark Diesbkinzig "Gemischter Satz"
 - Nose: Complex, Perfumed, Extremely Mineral
 - Engaging, Precise and Detailed
 - Fresh, Elegant and Clean
 - Palate: All about Minerals, Freshness and Precision

 - Riesling Blend

Monet's Water Lilies

Monet is, of course, one of the founders of Impressionism and one of the world's most famous artists. He did a series of 250 oil paintings of the water lilies that were in his garden in Giverny. They capture the beauty of nature almost directly but the feeling of the subject almost more than the reality of it.  

Today's Pinot Noir is a similar style. The wine is so incredibly elemental and natural.  It captures the flavors that we see in nature. But, not in a precise way. After all, we would not want to drink dirt. But there is this wonderfully stunning impression of a natural thing that has been put in a glass. Jurgen is a Master of Wine. He's tried more wine than most of us will ever drink. At some point, you get it. That winemakers can make wines that are fruity and bold. Dense and powerful. You've experienced blackberry and cherry fruit. At some point, you want to experience the transcendence of nature in a glass. And that is what he makes and what we are selling today. They are not like any other wines we sell.

The Grand Crus

Today's wine is one of Jurgen's Grand Cru wines or as he calls them, his song wines. These are the wines you will all fight over and I expect to be highly allocated. They are called song wines because Jürgen tastes the wines and decides on a song for the label that best exemplifies what the wine is about. Some names of his wines are below. 

• I Took a Pill in Ibiza (Remix)
• One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
• Out In The Fields
• Suis Je Gentile Ainsi? 

As you can see they are a vast range of different musical genres. Jürgen loves music as much as I do film. It tickled me that he names his best wines after song, as I find comparing wines to songs, film, TV, classical music, poetry and literature a staple of how I communicate about wine.

The Prieuré Roch Analog

When I taste a new German Pinot Noir estate I always instantly think of what this reminds me of. I always compare to Burgundy as it's the easiest way to communicate for now. iIn 10-15 years we will be comparing to other German Pinot Noirs. Jürgen's wines are so distinctive so it was pretty easy for me to see the parallel. The estate these remind me of is the cult Burgundy estate of Prieuré Roch which was founded by the co-director of DRC. The wines of this Domaine are light colored but they lead you on an aromatic journey like no other Burgundy estate.  But for such light colored wines there is a palate intensity in Jürgen's that compares to the best. These also have a Red Riesling quality with how nimble and racy they are. The fruit is glorious, silky and clearly defined. There is a Morey-St. Denis spice as well throughout all the wines. The wines are very subtle and elegant. 

communicate about wine. 

Jürgen's Grand Cru wines are simply brilliant expressions of Pinot Noir. 

 - They are light to medium bodied and have just unreal flavor intensity. 

 - The purity and the clarity of the fruit is top notch. 

 - They are wispy and sneakily dense. 

 - These are genius wines of the highest degree and made lovingly in small batches with the knowledge and experience of a master of wine. 

First up is the 2015 Jürgen Von Der Mark "Suis Je Gentile Ainsi?" for $53.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This wine is genius. As are all Jürgen's wines. 

What a color.  So elegant and translucent.  Simply gorgeous.  You know you are about to drink something special. 

Nose of just the most insane spice ever. Cardamon, clove, tar, burnt wood shavings, smells like Xmas outside walking in a small European village. Cherry, cranberry. Just dizzying aromas. Potted soil and some hints of mulch as well.  Day 2 this really started killing it. Hugely spicey nose. Cherry flower and alluring sour cherry. Deep and feral but so clean. Smells so elemental. Juicy and so clean. Wow. 

Palate is elegant and loaded with sweet tangy and textured fruit. So nimble. The level of nimbleness is terrific. So sappy and pure. Insane inner mouth aromas and lovely complexity and depth. Really long finish and such finesse. So much flavor and intensity but all presented on a nice silk string. The finesse here along with the high quality silky tannins are something else. Amazing balance. Sick freshness and his sweetness is the closest to real fruit sweetness I've ever had in German Pinot. A brilliant offering. But JVDM's wines really evolve with air.  On Day 2, incredible Red Rieslingesque vibe to it. Energetic and so nimble. Awesome purity. Sappy and superbly balanced. Really terrific today. So so Red Riesling it is not funny. Pure and so nimble. Wonderful sap. Drink now and over the next 10 years. 

The Song 

This is a song written by Jules Massenet for the Opera "Manon." It translates to "Am I so nice?" and is a gorgeous opera piece. It is about a young man and young women celebrating their youth and living, loving and laughing. They have so much time they say as youth is to celebrate the idea of being young. The wine that corresponds to the name is wonderful at 6 years old and can be drunk now with aplomb. It's is youthful and vintage but also is showing some secondary character as well. 

Wine #2

Jürgen also makes fascinating and delicious whites and they cannot be overlooked. The 2017 Jürgen Von der Mark Diesbkinzig "Gemischter Satz" for $30.99 a bottle on a 4-pack is a stunner. 

Nose is complex, perfumed, extremely mineral and smells super fresh. Some herbals and ripe veggies like fiddlehead ferns and bok choy. Very engaging, precise and detailed. 

Palate is so fresh, elegant and clean. Oh man I could drink a bucket of this. So juicy and precise with a mix of herbs, veggies and huge minerals. Man is this fresh, balanced, pure, juicy and complex. So long, precise and engaging. Palate has barely any fruit but is all about minerals, freshness and precision, plus some nice beginner complexity. Long and so satisfying. A great start! As this opens there are stone fruits, peach, apricot and some pluot flesh but it's still lean and also has a veggie edge with bok choy, fiddlehead ferns and some artichoke leaves. Awesome. The wine has stunning acidity currently and is as Jürgen says it is almost "Jura Like.

2015 Jürgen Von Der Mark Spatburgunder "Suis Je Gentile Ainsi?" - $55.99 ($215.96 4-Pack) (*Including Tariff of $6.05) 

2017 Jürgen Von der Mark Diesbkinzig "Gemischter Satz" - $32.99 

($123.96 4-Pack)  (*Including Tariff of $3.03)