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
2019 Von der Mark Pinot Noir Engerstein
- A Value at $75+ in Burgundy
- His 1er Cru Wine
- Nose: Grand Cru All the Way
- Deep, Penetrating Red and Black Cherries
- Stunning Spice and Clarity
- Smells like Elite Vosne-Romanee
- Amazing Fruit Skin Complexity, Awesome Purity
- Vosne-Romanee Dead Ringer
- Orange Zest, Cardamon, Clove
- Palate: So Juicy and Delicious
- Top Notch Elegance
- The Most Perfect Fresh Cherry
- Cherry Lipstick
- Compact, Fresh, Energetic and Well Made
- A Benchmark at this Price Point
- Impeccable Balance
- Case Pricing for a Reason
- I Gave This a 9.5 Which Is One of My Highest Scores Ever for Under $30 Pinot Noir
"The winemaking is very gentle. JvM doesn't really extract Pinot Noir, he rather prefers an infusion." - Stephan Reinhardt
These wines are the Pinot Noirs that you would make if you were a Master of Wine. To wit, just silky, sexy, elegant Burgundy style wines. It's hard to define this in writing but Burgundy drinkers know what I mean.
- The nose just has that classic Burgundy elegant, classy, precise earthiness. And then you smell some mulberry. And then maybe some cherry. Gorgeous aromas flit in and out.
- The fruit on the palate is great but it's all about that silky Burgundian texture that caresses the palate in a meaningful way but doesn't obtrusively adhere. The juice leaves its imprint in a deep and meaningful way that makes you want more but isn't too showy.
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. in 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 wines that compares to the best. These also have a Red Riesling quality with how nimble 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.
To Create A Thing It Is Necessary to Know the Thing
Over the years I've discovered that to make great wine, you have to know what great wine tastes like. This may seem obvious but it isn't. I'm not talking about knowing that fruity wine tastes good. I'm talking about knowing what elite world class wine tastes like. Most winemakers don't have the funds or inquisitiveness to find out. It's why Henrik Mobitz was such an incredible winemaker. He loved the best wines in Burgundy and wanted to make wines that good. Once he knew what he was trying to do, the rest was just hard work and trial and error.
The Master of Wine Program is Similar to the Court of Master Sommeliers in that it involves mastering a body of wine knowledge and passing a series of almost impossible exams. It started in the UK 65 Years ago and there are only 393 living Masters of Wine today. Given the rigorousness of the exams, you need to have a terrific palate to pass. Not to be too elitist, but you have to have a fairly high degree of intelligence to pass as well. Jürgen Von der Mark's knowledge of wine is, to put it mildly, encyclopedic. And he has tackled the process of making wine the same way he did learning to taste it. He is a man with an extremely direct and intense manner, although not in an uncomfortable way. You can just tell by talking to him that he has thought about every aspect of what he is trying to accomplish and how to accomplish it.
I knew everyone would love Jürgen Von der Mark’s wines and the review have been amazing. He has arrived and is our new German Pinot Noir star. The man is as talented as any Pinot Noir winemaker in the world and is really coming into his own now.
The Wine
But all of this still did not prepare me for the brilliance that the 2019 von der Mark Engerstein was ($30.99 a bottle on a 4-pack and $28.99 on a case). People should really think about a case purchase as this is possibly my favorite under $30 German Pinot I’ve ever sold. Just stunning. I go back and forth between this and Ziereisen Talrain in the under $30 German Pinot category as my favorite. The wine is basically his 1er Cru wine and is just a stunning wine for the money you’re talking $75+ in Burgundy.
The nose is Grand cru all the way. Just insane. Deep, penetrating red and black cherries. Stunning spice and clarity. Insane earth, also bright and damson. Wet earth and limestone. This is aromatic like nothing else. A rock star of a nose. 9.7 nose. I am blown away. I swear this smells like elite Vosne-Romanee. Just incredible.
OMG that palate! Fresh, crunchy fruit and top notch, 1% finesse. This is so fresh, so juicy and so pure I’m in awe. This guy is a superstar. Amazing fruit skin complexity and just awesome purity. The nose keeps opening and getting deeper and deeper. It’s enchanting in a Tolkien type of way. Fleshy and ripe but also balanced by just wicked awesome acidity. This is a stunning wine. I’ll be back as it opens up. Wow has it opened up. The nose is more red fruited after air. So much spice. Vosne-Romanee dead ringer. Orange zest. Cardamon. Clove.
Palate is so juicy and delicious. So supple and sweet with top notch elegance and there but not there tannins. The most perfect fresh cherry. Cherry lipstick. So compact, fresh, energetic and well made. A benchmark at this price point. Impeccable balance. So fine and refined.
2019 Jurgen Von Der Mark Pinot Noir "Engerstein" - $32.99
($123.96 4-Pack, $347.88 12 bottle case {$28.99!})
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