German Chardonnay Is Here - They Are Starting to Compete With Burgundy - Kuhling Gillot 2020's Are Here

2020 Kühling-Gillot Chardonnay Reserve

- Nose: Unreal and expansive nose

- Super Crisp and Clean

- Like Chablis Crossed with Cote de Beaune

- Mineral and Complex

- Spice, Minerals, Apple

- Hints of Chablisean Seashells

- Palate: Crisp Yet Rich, Tangy Yet Opulent

- Concentrated and Pure

- Beats Any 3 Tier AOC Chablis By a Mile
- A Major Value - Why I'm Offering Case Pricing

2020 Kühling Gillot Chardonnay Alte Reben
- Allocated (Only 42 Bottles

 - Like a Cross between 1er Cru Puligny and Meursault

 - Truly a Wow Nose
 - Lime, Lemon
 - Explosively Mineral
 - Awesome Spices
 - Awesome Texture, Juiciness and Concentration
 - Palate: Super Explosive, Elegant and Clean
 - Concentrated and So Pretty
 - Unreal Inner Mouth Aromas

 - Stunning Purity

If there is one category I'm super bullish on these days it is German Chardonnay. I am as bullish on it as I was German Pinot Noir. When I first opened Fass Selections and started selling German Pinot Noir I was ridiculed. But I took my licks and we all know where that went. Many of the top German Pinots are in short supply and allocated and I never ever have enough for everyone. 

It makes sense that if a wine region makes excellent Pinot Noir it will make excellent Chardonnay. Look
at Burgundy and look at Oregon. Oregon Chardonnay has been really turning heads recently as well and is having its moment. Now we have German Chardonnay and I sell six or seven with the hopes of selling more. I adore German Chardonnay for many reasons. 

The best ones are grown in limestone soils in Baden and Rheinhessen which is the exact same soils as the great whites of the Cote de Beaune. The prices are incredibly inexpensive for what one gets in the bottle. They have their own unique Germanic character centered around precision.

Today I've got two wines from our new(ish) estate, Kuhling-Gillot that exemplify what is going on in German Chardonnay as I listed above with one caveat. One of the wines is sadly limited. Yup, German Chardonnay is super popular in Germany and getting the top bottlings in quantities can be difficult. 

The Wines

The wine I want to focus on is one of the greatest Chardonnay values I've ever tasted. A wine of such profundity with such a low sticker price I was shocked that it was so inexpensive after I tasted it. I always taste first and find out the prices later. Then I have a pure vision of the wine to evaluate without any preconceived notions. 

The 2020 Kühling-Gillot Chardonnay Reserve can be had for $21.99 a bottle and $19.99 on a 12 bottle case. This is an absurd value for a remarkable bottle of Chardonnay. 

Nose is super crisp and clean almost like a Chablis crossed with Cote de Beaune and German engineering thrown in. Mineral and complex. Not a hint of wood. Not sure if this sees any wood actually. Unreal and expansive nose after some significant air. Spice, minerals, apple, some apple pie and a hints of Chablisean seashells. Maybe it's in my head but I smelled it! 

Palate is just terrific. This is crisp yet rich, tangy yet opulent, and mineral yet also approachable and herbal. This is the closest thing to German Chablis I've ever had. This is so good. Concentrated and pure. Silky and slippery. This is just terrific. Long finish. This is such an over performer for the price. Lemony lime finish and just wonderful richness. That richness allied with playfulness is what makes this so special. After air it really changes. I'm taking 4-7 hours and the next day. Palate is just terrific with huge acids, lovely chalky minerality, huge depth, slippery texture and just unreal palate presence. A brilliant brilliant deal. Chewy and complex and so precise and clean. And it's such a value!  This is an everyday drinker and I'd take it over Chablis AC any day from any mediocre 3 tier producer. This is a major value and that's why I'm offering case pricing.

The second wine is the 2020 Kühling Gillot Chardonnay Alte Reben which can be had for $39.99 on a 3-pack and will be very limited and allocated. I only have 48 bottles. This wine is transcendent. So juicy, so pure, so deep, and so complex. Like a cross between Puligny and Meursault. Vineyards for this are all limestone. Which is the key to this wines brilliance. 

Nose is reticent at first. Hints of wood, huge minerality and you can really smell the limestone. Expansive aromas. It's so subtle and beautiful. Wow. Truly a wow nose as it unfurls. Lime, lemon, other random citrus, sponti aromas, so complex. 1er cru Meursault quality here. On day 2, the nose is more sweetley wooded today and has awesome spices and apple. Super complex and a hint of sponti. Awesome texture, juiciness and concentration. Really seamless and pure. There is a spherical like textural thing happening. Amazing texture end depth. So clean. Stunning purity. 

Palate is stunning. Super explosive, elegant and clean. Tangy as all hell. Wow just superb. Concentrated and so pretty. Juicy and serene. Just brilliant. Unreal inner mouth aromas and just stunning purity and genius use of wood. It frames it perfectly. Wonderful structure suggests at least 5-8 years ahead of it. Really terrific. This really got into gear on day 2 and is just a magnificent wine. 

2020 Kuhling Gillot Chardonnay Reserve - $23.99

($87.96 4-Pack, $239.88 12 Pack {$19.99!}) 

2020 Kuhling Gillot Chardonnay Oppenheim Alte Reben - $41.99

($119.97 3-Pack)