Are his red wines still bottled in a thick, heavy glass with a large punt?
Sadly yes.
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Wasenhaus Tasting on 9/15/2024
The Wasenhaus wines have an elegant, tame purity to them. As I pondered them, they screamed Burgundy to me in the best way. Pure, crystalline fruit without any noticable new oak in the way. The wines follow the Burgundian hierarchy with quality and complexity stepping up as you go. Itâs almost shockingly similar to Burgundy but with a definite Baden quality. The winemakersâ time in Burgundy is evident in the most elegant way.
Baden is a huge region and (for this newbie to the regionâs wines) not easy to grasp compared to places like the Mosel, Nahe, Rheingau, or even the larger Pfalz and Rheinhessen.
(I know this is a SpĂ€tburgunder thread, but I thought Iâd include some of the whites from the flight.)
2022 Weissburgunder
Crystalline, pure, mineral without harsh edges, some lime-pear things going on but more about texture and mineral than fruit, for sure.
2022 Chardonnay: Not a boisterous Chardonnay. Slightly more body than the Weissburgunder, but a similar restrained style. Mineral, quiet citrus, maybe even a bit of lime leaf, with a touch of lees notes. Itâs delicious for those who like more of a Chablis meets Puligny sort of thing.
2023 Grand Ordinaire: Carbonic SpĂ€tburgunder, served slighly chilled. A cloudy dark rosey hue. I normally love a gluggable carbonic red, but this one didnât do it for me. A bit thin, green, and after a couple of sips, I didnât want to finish it, but might be great with food. Not really worth the price, even at the entry level.
2022 SpÀtburgunder
A good introduction to the Wasenhaus SpĂ€tburgunder style. Pure bright fruit, a bit of herbal notes, but not overly green. It has that clear ruby hue and flavors of raspberry with its seeds. Itâs clearly their Badische Bourgogne.
2022 SpĂ€tburgunder Vulkan: A bit reticent and maybe reduced on the noseâthis one needs some air to open up. Hints of wild cherry, a touch of iron, maybe lavender. On the palate itâs all about that sweet dark cherry framed by brooding mineral grip. I loved this one and kept coming back to it. For some reason this one gives me Gevrey with a hint of Pommard but much more crystalline and bright.
2022 SpÀtburgunder Kalk Way more open than the Vulkan. Raspberry fruit, a more bit floral, and way more open and expressive, the most approachably complex of the lineup. Where the Vulkan seems more about focus and tension, this one gives me generosity and a more rustic village Volnay thing.
2022 Weissburgunder Möhlin
A huge step up from the basic Weissburgunder: Mineral, fennel, Asian pear, high-toned acid, texture, focus, tension. This one should age beautifully and could even benefit from a little time to integrate. But boy, is it tasty and boasts a finish for days. For those who love tense, mineral whites and need a break from Rieslingâgo for this one.
2022 SpĂ€tburgunder Möhlin: The most âcompleteâ of the SpĂ€tburgunders in the line-up, with a dense mineral grip, a cherry-black berry (with seeds) thing going on. Quiet on the nose and probably needs some time. Iâd love to follow this one over an evening or a couple of days. For sure, this is their 1er Cru or above.
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Fantastic notes! Thank you. As you saw I had the 22 base SpÀtburgunder last night at dinner. I thought it was excellent and very much open. Maybe the best base Wasenhaus I have had. It was magical with a Persian meal. It was so good I added another 6 bottles on top of the 2 cases I already have.
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2021 Furst Hundsruck GG - This was really amazing. So light, ethereal and beautiful. Great moderately ripe balanced fruit. Very small amount of oak. Minerality. A complete and harmonious wine.
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Really nice note. I love the quiet beauty of the FĂŒrst SpĂ€tburgunders. For me, FĂŒrst is the most beautiful expression of German SpĂ€tburgunder.
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It is up there for sure.
This more than redeemed the bad experience with the 2008. It was firing on all cilinders from pnp, and it kept getting better but didnât last long. Very fine tannins, lithe, and balanced. I preferred it to the Dureuil-Janthial which seemed more unidimensional in comparison, although they were both excellent.
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2021 Bertram-Baltes Handwerk - The 2021 Bertram-Baltes are all just fascinating. There is a very prominent green streak that I canât tell if it is a flaw or a virtue. The green has been present in all three of the different cuvees I have tried.It is so strong that it is almost Cab Franc like. I personally really love it and the rest of this wine is so silky smooth, savory with great fruit. A great food wine. And a ridiculous value at $27!!! I just bought more before posting 
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Sounds like a vintage characteristic (slightly unripe).
As long as the fruit is balanced I guess it just adds complexity 
That was definitely what I thought when I tasted the first one. I do know I really like it! Then again I liked some of the green in 2004 Burgundies!
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We picked Pinot Noir this morning. It was our first harvest day.
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Hearing promising reports about Pinot from the Mosel proper.
At Hofgut Falkenstein, the grapes were picked and destemmed by hand. (In some vintages, we only did partial destemming or no destemming.) The yields were kept very low by pruning. There was also a severe frost in April, which lowered the yields even more.
The fermentation by indigenous yeasts will be in a large open vat with daily punch-downs. After maceration, the wine will be pressed and transferred to an old Fuder cask, where it will age for a little over a year.
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Canât wait to taste it!
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It should be similar in style to the 2021. The grapes came from the same vineyard that produced your 2020 Rosé.
Lassakâs new single vineyard cuvee.
Still Lassak, but with less of a carbonicâish expression compared to the base 2021. It has a more classic Pinot cherry profile. There is a nice spicy touch and a liquorice powder note I love. It has a bit of a synthetic note thats hard for me to define, but I found the exact same note in some of Julia Bertramâs wines (pre Bertram-Baltes). It works well with the wine though.
A very good wine in a style I appreciate.
If I am going to be critical, I think it lacks a bit of length a depth. Had a bit higher hopes for the step up. Anyways, happy to own another bottle and I am really enjoying it.
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When I first saw this, I was going to post âCongrats on becoming a winemaker!â
Then I saw it was spelled âLassakâ, lol
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I have always maintained that Lasse should fire his label maker and hire someone who can spell.
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2021 Shelter Lovely Lily - Just a nice juicy bottle of pinot that was thoroughly enjoyable. This is their entry level pinot. Superb value.
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