"12 months in French oak, one-third new. Then 12 months in stainless steel. The red fruit has a shiny Christmas-tree-bauble brightness and redness. It sings like a robin. Fluid and cool and untroubled. Tiny tannins, tacky tactility and then velvet. Note of marzipan. Yum. (TC)"
Tasted by Tamlyn Currin,
wine writer for Jancis Robinson
17/20
Site: Arzheimer am Fürstenweg its the eastern slope of the "kleine Kalmit". The "kleine Kalmit" is a 272m high elevation that was formed during the Tertiary and the sinking of the Upper Rhine Rift. The area around the Kleine Kalmit Hill in the Palatinate is called the classical square mile of geology because it consists of a unique combination of rock. The soil is extremely calcareous. Arzheimer am Fürstenweg is a small valley on the southern slope of the Fürstenweg. The Fürstenweg is our earliest and warmest site. The soil consists of a deep loess loam with high active lime content.
Wine: Fine red-fruited Pinot Noir, delicate sour cherry, current, concise chalky minerality, aromatic, harmonious and intense, but still with a fresh acidity and a great finish, fine tannins.
Vinification: After a manual harvest, the grapes are again sorted and partially destemmed at teh winery. In some cases we let whole berries co-ferment. The mash is gently filled into the fermentation tanks without pumping and ferments completely spontaneously with natural yeasts. After fermentation, the mash is put into the press by hand and carefully pressed at low pressure. With the help of gravity they fill their barriques, which are made exclusively from French oak, with a young red wine which now matures for 18 months in the barrels untill the unfiltered bottling.
Wine to keep: 10 years and more.
Food recommedations: Grilled rib, roast beef, rack of lanb with romaine potatoes.
Drinking temperature: 14 - 16 Celsius
Alcohol: 13,0% vol.
Res.sugar: 0,2 g/l
Acidity: 6,6 g/l
