I can’t remember when the last time I had or saw an Austrian Pinot.
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Well that is a bit too broad to answer 
The Spätburgunders in Germany is very different from each other as well. From location to producer.
A lot of the winemakers discussed in this thread could be grouped in what i would call the “new wave/generation” of Pinot Noir in Germany, where focus is on lighter, energetic, less oak influenced, low intervention (but clean) wines if that makes sense hehe.
The only Pinot i remember tasting from Austria is from Claus Preisinger. And that one is very much a wine with “natural wine” vibes…
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So tell me about them hehe. I can see i also have those available to me… oh they joy of Copenhagen (if we disregard the prices!)
Lasse’s answer is a good one. I think Pinot noir does better in Germany, especially among the types of producers we are talking about here. That said, if I was looking for an Austrian Pinot Noir in the U.S., I would probably go for Wieninger Select (brought in by Winebow; unfortunately, they don’t seem to bring in the much better Grand Select). I would also not hesitate to try Schloss Gobelsburg’s Pinot Noir. I have never had it, but I have never had a bad Gobelsburg wine and Skurnik seems to import it.
I will confess that I have never heard of Schloss Halbthurn.
Got inspired by this thread. So i will revisit and try new wines in the next 2-3 weeks. I’ve been told that the 17’s from Wasenhaus is developing a bit faster than expected. So very curious to try the Vulkan again.
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Incredible! I changed the name of the thread to German Spatburgunder. Please add your notes. I will add some others.
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Since we’re extending the topic - over the last week had both the 2020 Falkenstein spätburgunder and the 2017 Twardowski pinot noix. Both pretty special wines, albeit two very different expressions of pinot noir.
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At Hofgut Falkenstein, we harvested a parcel of Pinot Noir for red wine last week. One vat has hand-destemmed grapes, the other whole bunches. We’re excited to see how each of them tastes in the coming weeks.
Rudolf Fürst and Bernhard Huber are considered two of the top producers of Spätburgunder in Germany.
The duo of Sven Enderle and Florian Moll were pioneers in making an artisanal style of Spätburgunder in Baden. I imported Enderle & Moll and brokered Henrik Möbitz in the early years. Henrik had beautiful custom-made barrels from the Black Forest and lots of Mosel wine in his cellar. I even ran into him at Weiser-Künstler one day.
As for Wasenhaus, I remember meeting Alexander Götze for the first time at a dinner on the Mosel before he started making wines from Baden with Christoph Wolber; they visited Enderle & Moll in 2015.
On a side note, I helped convince both Ulli Stein, who was part of my Mosel Wine Merchant portfolio, and Erich Weber of Hofgut Falkenstein to bottle their Spätburgunder in Burgundy bottles.
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First one…
Makalié, Spätburgunder, 2020.
This is a Spätburgunder of real finesse. It is very light and transparent with delicate notes of cherries and strawberries. The entire wine is rather delicate which also means that the fruit doesn’t drown. I am not sure exactly how this is made, but i would guess that there are some whole cluster action going on here. It has those aromatic spicy slightly green and floral notes that screams whole cluster Pinot to me. It also has some earthy leafy notes. It is certainly a low intervention, low sulfies wine. It has a slightly volatile nature with a little VA and some fresh hay notes on day one. Took my mind more to Jura than Baden. On day two though the fruit feels a bit darker and deeper and is carried more by the cherry notes while the hay note is going. Still light and delicate but with a little more punch. On day two it feels more like a Baden Pinot and reminds me of one of the best Enderle & Moll wines I’ve had… the 2015 Pinot a Trois (May, 2021). No mousey issues in sight. Was told that the bigger cuvees sees a little (but well judged) oak. But this one did not feel oaky.
I like it a lot. My wife liked it a lot which is always a plus. But it will not be a wine for everyone. It feels more like a “natural wine” than Wasenhaus. The wines are also priced in the same range as Wasenhaus and it feels like i am paying a premium for the minuscule amounts of wine they make.
Might buy one or two of the larger cuvees for the cellar though as this was pretty good.
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Nice comments!
We get our first batch in the shop soon.
Agreed. Encouraging note! Thanks @LasseK
Please post your impressions.
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Charlotte & David Beck, HuesWii Pinot Noir, 2018.
The entry level Pinot Noir from Charlotte & David. Even though this a very low sulfites wine it has a very classic and non-funky expression. Cherries is the key note here. Red cherries and some raspberries. There is a nice floral touch on the nose and a slightly green element that just adds to the wine in a positive way. It feels slighty sweet. The sweetness might be from the vintage, but i do get some vanilla and oaky spice vibes here even though I think it is aged in older barrels. Maybe 1-3 year old barrels? I also get some licorice notes on the palate. 12% abv and a lively acidity keeps everything fresh.
Compared to Wasenhaus this moves in the opposite direction of Makalié, with a more classic Burgundian (for the lack of a better term) touch to it. I think this is a very good wine, but style wise i prefer both Wasenhaus and Makalié to this. They feel a bit more energetic and have a different aromatic profile which i enjoy a lot.
But this is certainly good enough for me to try one of the high end wines. It is also slightly cheaper.
Day two update:
It feels more floral and green and less sweet. Nose certainly improved a bit and overall i like it better now. No mousey issues in sight even though the total sulfites is only around 10-15 mg/l (if i can trust the internet). If i buy more I will certainly let them sleep for a year or two.
Also stopped buying after 2017.
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Such a weak vintage! Will taste my last 2017 Muschelkalk within the next two weeks and report back.
The funny thing is that i think 2018 is their best vintage (2014 was my first). But then 2019… up and down it goes.
Any thoughts on the sweet spot for aging Spatburgunder? Rule of 15 like Burgundy? Less?
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Based on experience I think it is 5-7 years. The vines are still young.
I have had a lot of the older Mobitz and they are not aging well.
In Germany I have had a number of older (10+ years) first Generation wines like Furst and they feel disjointed.
Of course this will change as the vines age and winemakig changes.
Just to be clear I am extremely excited about the current and future potential of Spatburgunder
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I simply don’t have a long enough history with the wines to answer this. Enderle & Moll are the ones I’ve tasted most often with some age. And for those i would only say 4-7 years for the top cuvees in the best vintages.
I think Wasenhaus top wines will go longer. But thats based on a hunch.
Josef Walters wines seems build to age though. The 2015 Hundsrück still feels rather young.
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@Robert_Dentice do you have any experience with Markovic?
I just remembered this bottle i had not too long ago. Remember it as good, but it was servered to me blind while being rather drunk… so the memory is a bit hazy 
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I’m not sure how many are drinking older Spatburgunder. Might be because of leaps in quality related to everything from farming, weather and winemaking has come together relatively recently on a broader scale.
The oldest spatburgunder I have had this year is Enderle & Moll’s 2014 Liaison and a Becker Rechtenbacher 2012.
The former was beautiful and have been drinking really well for the last 3-4 years, more complex. The Becker was unfortunately corked, nonetheless the quality of the wine was very good, a real shame.
They are both somewhere mid range-ish of the producers’s lineups.