A New, Stunning Top Single Vineyard Pinot Noir Cuvee from Our Young Baden Star - Very Important and Limited

2016 Max Geitlinger Wein Pinot Noir "maximal"
 - Chambolle crossed with Nuits St. Georges
 - Deep Noble Structure
 - Super Elite Aromatic Presence
 - Single Vineyard Wine
 - Nose Jumps so High Out of That Glass
 - Mulberry, Mid Season Cherries, Sour Cherries
 - Smells Like an All Time Great Classic Burgundy
 - Palate: Grand Cru All the Way
 - Explosive Sweet Cherry Fruit
 - After 2 Hours - A Religous Experience
 - One of the Greatest German Pinots I Have Had
 - Maybe the Only Offer to Whole List Before Allocation
 - You Need to Pay $150+ for This Type Of Experience in Burgundy

2016 Max Geitlinger Wein Pinot Noir Sekt
 - Yes Sparkling German Blanc de Noirs!
 - Aged 32 Months - Under $30
 - Amazing Nose: Terrifically Vivid Fruit
 - Brioche and Gorgeous Toastiness
 - Hints of Blood Orange, Ripe Raspberry, Gorgeous Spice
 - Palate: Elegant Above All and So Pure
 - Some Christmas Spice
 - Elegant and Intensely Restrained
 - Will Be a Fass Selections Legend

The Next Step to Super Elite
An important step in the path of most winemakers is to either acquire top terroir OR to discover a certain parcel within their existing terroir where they can make a wine that competes with the very best.  I'm thrilled to say that today I am offering such a wine from Max Geitlinger.  I'm introducing a new flagship cuvee which will be at the top of the red wine range. This means that everyone who loves this winery and thought that the previous top wine was as good as it gets is in for an unexpected treat. We have a new super elite wine today at the top of the quality pyramid.

It's also helpful for new stars to have a wine in another category that has broad appeal and terrific quality. It also helps if it's a bit interesting and unique. We have that today as well. A new Sekt. Our second ever. 

Max Geitlinger
Max is a talent to be reckoned with and his wines have a devoted following at Fass Selections and

with good reason. They thread the same needle that Möbitz does in that they are the perfect balance between appealing to wine geeks and also regular people. Max's Pinot Noir (previous top cuvee) of which I've offered the 13/14/15 so far. As far as I knew that was the high end wine. It's incredible and many of you have written me or tagged me on social media. I think Max is easily a top 10 producer of Pinot in Germany. I could actually probably convince you he's in the top 5 over a few glasses of his wine.

Max is in the so called Baden New Wave Pinot Noir Producers with Ziereisen and also Sven Nieger as they have rejected the classification system and all of their wine is Landwein. They actually had a tasting this year that Jancis Robinson attended and she was delighted by Max's Pinots. Below are some of the wines you might recognize that were on the list. Max is now Super Elite!

• Enderle & Moll, Buntsandstein Ida and Muschelkalk Pinot Noir 2016
• Hanspeter Ziereisen, Jaspis, Rhini and Schulen Spätburgunder 2016 and Jaspis Alte Reben Spätburgunder 2014

The First Wine
And now we have a new wine. A wine that truly moves the goalposts. The 2016 Max Geitlinger Wein Pinot Noir "maximal" for $59.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. The wine is super elite Pinot Noir and a profound experience. It's a special occasion wine for sure. And it will wow just anybody. It blew me away. The wine is essential Baden Pinot Noir. If I had to compare to Burgundy it's like Chambolle crossed with Nuits St. Georges. But the lighter NSG's near the Vosne-Romanee border. There's deep noble structure but also elite aromatic presence and palate density There is an accessibility to this wine while it also has the structure to ensure a long life. Max has told me is was one barrel made from a single vineyard. This is the debut vintage. I opened this wine at 10:00 AM today.

OMG what a nose. Jumps so high out of that glass Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina had scouts at the winery when it was being bottled. A nose that is hard to describe but I'll attempt it. Just stunning. Gorgeous mulberry, mid season cherries, some sour cherries but it's all ripe and perfect. Layers and layers of spice, hint of sweet oak that is so so alluring. Man this smells like an all time great classic Burgundy. A stunning stunning nose. Tree bark, Tolkien middle earth elements. I love it. As it aerates it ushers your nose to crazytown like only great Pinot Noir can.

What a palate. This is Grand Cru all the way. Incredible spice and beautifully elegant and sappy sweet fruit that does not quit. Silky and with a gorgeous hidden silken structure. Amazing palate presence and leaves one's palate stained with such intensity you get impatient waiting for it to clear so you can sip it again. Wow what texture. Like a silky velvet. Explosive sweet cherry fruit. It is young and also accessible but has the potential to age 15+ years. Amazing wine. Gorgeous, lithe tannins and incredible freshness gives this a wonderful buoyancy. As this opens the texture becomes more haunting and the persistence is just beyond. This is one of the greatest German Pinots I have had. Stunning beyond belief. The length is crazy. I need a restraining order on this wine or it won't leave my palate alone. Judge! This is limited and you all need to buy this. A benchmark in German Pinot Noir. After 1 hour this wine is just crazytown.

A Brief Interlude
The category of the second wine is a category that has always somewhat puzzled me and that is German sparklers. It's a small hierarchy of greatness. Lauer, Breuer, Raumland I'd say off the top of my head. Breuer's Sekts are not even that well known compared to Raumland and Lauer. Lauer is likely the top guy with Raumland a firm 2nd and the rare high end Breuers are not a too distant 3rd. Before Lauer started releasing his late disgorged Riesling Sekts (which redefined and upped the ante how great Sekt made from Riesling to be), Sekthaus Raumland was my benchmark. They were more Champagne like as Volker Raumland used Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. I think that's the way to go and I hope more German Pinot producers make sekt from Pinot Noir.

Today I have a mindblowing German sparkling wine. Truly incredible wine. The 2016 Max Geitlinger Wein Pinot Noir Sekt for $29.99 is one of the best I've tasted since Raumland. But it's totally different as Raumland is in Rheinhessen and Max is in Baden in Feuerheim. Very different places and not near each other at all. If Raumland is more Champagne like,Max is more "Baden Pinot Noir diffused with bubbles." It is 100% Pinot Noir. The amazing color, pictured here is made from an extraction. Then 12 months in barrel with the yeast and 20 months in the bottle with the yeast. For $30 this is a silly silly good value. What a color on this. Like a deep Alaskan Coho Salmon. Gorgeous. This is sick. Just sick.

What a nose. What first strikes you is the vividness of the fruit. The clarity. The depth. Gorgeous and so voluminous. There is also some brioche and gorgeous toastiness. Amazing. Hints of blood orange, ripe raspberry, gorgeous spice and a feeling of a German Christmas Market. Stunning.


Palate is elegant above all and so pure. Fresh, fresh, fresh but also yeasty, long and texturally stunning. Sneaky persistence. More of that Christmas spice comes across on the palate and the sensation of a building, ever expansive finish. There is a spice cake element that echoes forever on the finish. A wispy, elegant, intensely restrained bottle of German bubbles. Terrific.

2016 Max Geitlinger Wein Pinot Noir "maximal" $61.99 

($179.97 3-pack) (*Including tariff of $7.23)

2016 Max Geitlinger Pinot Noir Sekt Extra Brut - $31.99 ($119.96 4-pack)