Ziereisen, Spatburgunder 2018

This wine clearly focuses on one grape variety, Pinot Noir. Only first-class grape material was harvested for this exceptionally balanced single-varietal wine from Ziereisen. The grapes grow under optimal conditions in Baden. The vines here dig their roots deep into soils of limestone. The Schulen Blauer Spätburgunder unfiltered is an Old World wine in the best sense of the word, for this German wine breathes an extraordinary European charm that clearly underscores the success of Old World wines. After the grape harvest, the grapes are immediately taken to the press house. Here they are sorted and carefully broken up. Fermentation then takes place in large wood at controlled temperatures. After fermentation is complete, the unfiltered Schulen Blauer Spätburgunder is aged for several months in oak barrels.

Hanspeter Ziereisen is quick-thinking and full of energy, and his wines get better every year. After a love affair with new oak early this century, he has tempered its use so that it subtly supports, rather than dominates the wines. Based close to the Swiss and French borders just north of Basel, he makes a selection of Pinot Noirs (and a host of other varietals) that offer both purity and value. His vineyards are on a south-facing slope overlooking Basel, the vines grow at an altitude between 250 and 400 metres, and there is a constant breeze, allowing slower ripening. He does not chaptalise, and uses 10 – 20% new wood across the range. The musts are handled very gently, with no punching down and little extraction, and the wines are breathtakingly pure and long-lived.