As a wine geek and a German wine fanatic I could not be more excited by the Wasenhaus wines. Their first vintage was in 2016 and I had heard a bit of the buzz about them prior to first tasting them in April 2018. We were coming close to the end of a serious 7 day tasting trip for professionals - somms and wine buyers, that we were luckily invited to but also had to keep up with their torrid pace.
We had a long day that ended with a tasting and dinner at Joachim Breuer’s home in Württemberg. A shy quiet winemaker, that my wife (Renée) said reminded her of a young Freddie Mercury, joined us for the tasting. Keep in mind this was our third tasting of the day with an average of 25-30 wines at each appointment and we were on day 5 or 6 of the trip. It was around 7 pm when we finished tasting Joachim’s wines and we felt both relieved and accomplished for making it through the day and were ready for dinner. But WAIT! The young rock star looking winemaker had traveled a few hours to taste the group on his wines…Renée was not happy and I thought this might be her breaking point. After tasting the first Pinot she immediately came back to life and by the last she said buy all you can! And since then I have bought and drank all that I could. The wines have only been in the market in NYC for two years, almost every top restaurant that tries them buys them and they sell out at retail immediately. I buy retail and have to use all of my good German buying will to get them. This offer is along with our first three offers is the essence of what we aim to do at source | material. As you will see from the write up Stephen asked if they would bottle 3 liters for us (knowing we had source | material in the works) earlier this year and they agreed given the unknown state of the world due to the pandemic.
The wines are simply ethereal, they are a hypothetical combination of the elegance of Burgundy with the energy and freshness of Germany.
It is a cool story that you can read about in a number of places - in a nutshell two Germans moved to Burgundy to study and work. They worked and learned at great domains like Pierre Morey, Leflaive and De Montille, among others. They decided to go back to Baden and buy up small parcels of older vines and make great wine. And they did just that. I think at least one of them might still be working in Burgundy and going back and forth.
This part of the post (above the line below) is my personal editorial to hopefully convey my excitement around these wines. This type of wine is why I read wine boards, go on week long trips to Germany, follow 100s of wine geeks on instagram - the excitement of discovering a wine like this makes it all worthwhile!
Thank you to all here who have supported source | material!
Official offer below is going out via email today…
offer 004
rare, large format
for the holidays
2018 wasenhaus
$700.00
{ Not to be too dramatic, but there is zero chance that the tiny, cult estate of Wasenhaus will ever offer 3L bottles in any significant quantities again. }
Wasenhaus Jero 2-Pack: $700
includes:
1 x 2018 Wasenhaus Spätburgunder (3.0L)
1 x 2018 Wasenhaus Spätburgunder Möhlin (3.0L)
Email us at orders@sourcematerialwine.com to order: include name, state and quantity requested.
This is a “perfect storm” offering, a wild-eyed, far-fetched and certainly crazy request that we sent Alex and Christoph in early March 2020, as the world fell apart and they were beginning to plan for the bottling of their deep 2018 vintage.
We asked for a preposterous number of Jeroboams (3L bottles). After a pregnant pause, they said: “uh, ok?”
It was an act of reckless optimism in the face of utter chaos. We are so glad we have them.
And, in the same way, your buying a jeroboam or two (that’s where the deal is) is a similar act of optimism. We think, years from now (months from now?), you will be very glad you acted on this impulse.
In our quarantined, isolated worlds, we have to believe in a moment when we will gather, unmasked, safely throwing caution to the wind to hug one another, to snuggle up to each other by the dinner table, to drink copious amounts of wine, together.
Whether you buy these big bottles or not, as we enter into what will be a strange holiday for all of us, know that we will get back to that essential humanity in our lives. We just have to be patient.
In the meantime, here is a chance to prepare your cellar for the reunions to come.
There is some logic here too; it’s not all insanity. These two wines come to you at something like a 25% discount because, well, the 25% tariffs do NOT apply to these large-format bottles.
So, while there is normally a 20-40% premium for this rare format, the two-pack comes to you cheaper than the 750mls.
What we are proposing is a two-pack of jeroboams: one 2018 Spätburgunder (the estate wine, the Bourgogne Rouge if you will) at $200 and one 2018 Spätburgunder Möhlin (the Grand Cru and, in their words, the greatest Pinot Noir they have ever made) at $500.
$700 is not a small sum of money, admittedly, but these are SERIOUS rarities from a young estate that already has (after only two vintage releases) a cult-like status and a strong following. It’s also the equivalent of eight bottles, so we’re talking less than $100 a bottle.
If you have experienced the Pinot Noirs of Wasenhaus, you already know.
If you haven’t, the measured introduction would be something like: these are among the most talked-about wines in Germany and they deserve this status. Honestly, I’ve had few people taste these wines and not have an eyebrow raise or a jaw drop. They are not only that good, but they are that obviously good.
The Wasenhaus Pinot Noirs show an uncommon lightness and clarity; a finesse that embarrasses most other German Pinot Noirs. The Wasenhaus wines are ultra-fine, with a textural elegance that is second to none. I have personally never had a German Pinot Noir with such a high thread-count, such an extremely satiny texture.
Yes, it’ll be a strange holiday. However, we will get through the holiday, through the winter. Spring will come. And these wines will age effortlessly for 5-10+ years, so no real rush.
Either way, we all hope that someday very soon, large gatherings will not only be safe, they will be something of a common occurrence and we will all need a lot of big bottles.
We are wishing you a safe holiday and we are so thankful for all the support and kind notes.
Email us at orders@sourcematerialwine.com to order: include name, state and quantity requested.