I am obviously very excited about German Pinot Noir; however, I am equally and maybe more excited about German Chardonnay! I feel like in the U.S. market we are at the point that German Pinot was at 5-10 years ago. I would note that there are a lot less bad German Chards than Pinots and we will not have to go through a period with Chardonnay like we did with Pinot where we got overpriced, extracted, heavily oaked wines while the growers were learning to farm and make one of the toughest grapes (e.g. Pinot Noir) in the world (I talking about 10-15 years ago for German Pinot).
Chardonnay has a great future in Germany for many of the same reasons as Pinot:
Global warming
Proper site selection is key and the growers are learning fast
There are limestone vineyards in Germany (e.g. Obermosel)
Chardonnay not grown on limestone is also unique and differentiated and will be very cool to see the many interpretations coming from Germany grown on a multitude of soils
Many winemakers have either trained in Burgundy or visit regularly (e.g., Jonas Dostert spend time at Leflaive and KP / Felix are regularly in Burgundy as are many other growers)
There is a true passion to make Chardonnay
I am guessing it is easier to grow and make Chardonnay than Pinot so the learning curve should be even quicker - just an amateur wine geek guess on my part but I have also tasted a lot and these wines are already good and some great
These are still hard to find in the U.S. market, although not impossible, but this will change!
There is a lot of excitement in Germany for Chardonnay.
Julian Haart broke the internet when he disclosed he has planted Chardonnay in Piesporter Goldtröpfchen
A German reviewer recently stated Keller’s Chardonnay reminded him of Ramonent from the 1980s!
This photo shows the wonderful diversity of German Chadonnay the Mann is a single vineyard natural wine that was so cool to taste next to the Keller they were both so unique but more similar than dissimilar.
I hope to use this thread as an ongoing repository of the exploration of German Chardonnay. I am planning a German Chardonnay Study. And I will post my ongoing notes here with several coming soon!
This wine was served to a group blind. Most thought it Burgundy 1er. I went out and bought some-not easy to find. That’s all I got so far, but I like the category!
2019 Friedrich Becker Chardonnay Schweigen - Germany, Pfalz (5/18/2024)
Slight hints of flint and spring floras on the nose. White burgundy-esque. Good concentration and depth on palate. Minerality through the middle. Bright acids. Turns more zippy with air. Crisp and clean Chardonnay that seems to have some upside to age.
2022 Jonas Dostert Chardonnay: This was one of the first Chardonnays to really grab my attention. My first Dostert Chard reminded of me of tasting Enderle and Moll and Mobitz early on in my Pinot exploration. This wine combines elements of good natural wine, it is Chardonnay at its core and it could only be made in Germany. Jonas spent time in Burgundy, working at Leflaive which I think they know a bit about Chardonnay. He has the advantage of limestone soils in the Obermosel. This wine is so sleek, precise, focused and explodes in a laser focused savory stream of mineral water. It is crazy. I like the term Lemonhead wine for certain rieslings (e.g., Falkenstein, Ludes etc.) this could be described as a Lemonhead Chardonnay! This is a riesling drinkers Chard and just one of the many interpretations coming from Germany.
The Mosel Fine Wines tasting note:
Jonas Dostert Chardonnay) AP: (No AP). The 2022er Chardonnay (with L-Nr. 4-23) was made from young vines (planted in 2015) and the grapes were directly pressed, before the wine was fermented and aged in 228-liter used oak barrels along natural lines, i.e. without any intervention and was bottled unfiltered and with little SO2 added (30 mg/l). Light yellow in color, it offers a refined and delicate nose with nuances of yellow flowers, vineyard peach, pear, lavender, thyme, green apple, and orange zest. The wine is very well balanced on the palate, with a creamy, almost juicy, aromatic edge, superbly balanced by refreshing and ripe acidity. The finish is superbly energetic and very long. This Chardonnay is a real beauty and will easily gain from further ageing. 2026-20
I had out on Thursday a new arrival that turned a lot of heads and got a lot of serious feedback, every account was impressed with the wine! It and Lukas’s Wines is to my taste one of the most promising in this catagory and more- Lukas Hammelmann’s “aus den Dorfen” 2023, his new “village” level Chardonnay from Zeiskam.
I think the Pfalz and in particular the area that Lukas is working in is incredibly promising for Chard. I tasted at Seckinger last week and was blown away with the Chards.
Thank you for starting this thread Robert. I had just picked up some of the Wasenhaus Chardonnay along with some of Becker’s Schweigen. The Wasenhaus was bright and fresh, but lacked that verve that their other bottling’s possess. As one CellarTracker user noted, it did benefit from some air, as it showed best on day two. My wife, who claims she doesn’t like Chardonnay, really enjoyed it. Would be curious to try their single vineyard wines. To your point though, I am very excited about Chardonnay’s potential in Germany.
Im bringing in Tim Fröhlich’s Chardonnay for the first time this year, the 2022.
Im curious to check it out, not having yet tasted it.
Indeed a promising frontier in general.
Good on 'ya Robert for sharing your continued passion!
Excited to join this thread and the WB community! I’ll be headed to Germany next month and look forward to getting my hands on some exciting Chardonnay’s as they are indeed very difficult to source here in the controlled state of Pennsylvania. Recommendations are of course welcomed! [Seckinger noted]
My first aha German Chardonnay experience was the 2021 Jonas Dostert (courtesy of Source Material). It set the bar high! It was so refreshing and raw and just a lot of fun. Perfect integrated acidity, nice length, and a tiny hint of funk, just enough to express its youthful exuberance and remind you that Chardonnay doesn’t have to be synonymous with Oma & Opa!
This thread finally happened
And it is indeed exciting!
In regards to the Wasenhaus Chardonnay, then I have actually preferred their Weissburgunder so far. But I also think the Chardonnay is made from a clone that gives a certain expression that haven’t really excited me too much yet (but the last I’ve tasted was 2018 Filzen, not sure if anything changed)
First vintage produced was 2020, so the vines are definitely older than that. Considering that he puts GG riesling younger than 15 years old in the basic riesling trocken, id be surprised if the Chardonnay doesn’t have a decent bit of age on them.
big fan of the kissinger chardo which was easily on par with a bruyere houillon. probably the best i have tasted from germany, but would love to try those kellers. don’t sleep on austria tho…there are some sneaky good morillon out there!
