Blanc de Blancs 100% Chardonnay from Werther Windisch. I have these tasting notes to every wine we tasted yesterday. Let me know if you are interested in any of them and I will share them via email.
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@Robert_Dentice I would be down to join for sure. I am hosting a seminar on German wine classification in June at the Central Coast School of Wine. It is so interesting and it comes with updates. The MAXIME HERKUNFT is an interesting fairly recent development that is similar to the VDP system. Gutswein (Estate Wine) Ortswein (Village Wine) Lagenwein (Single Vineyard Site). This is what most wineries are going by now these days to make it easier for the consumer.
@Tom_Chen I am glad you got to join and taste at least of few of the wines with us!
@ToddFrench Yes, the Pinot Blanc is one of my favorites and definitely showing very nicely right now. I love German Riesling and is my favorite grape variety but it is always fun to taste other varieties. Thank you so much for having me and organizing the tasting! I hope we can do this again sometime soon. Maybe when my next order gets here from Germany with all the new Riesling wines!
@brigcampbell Thank you for starting the thread! I had a great time with all of you and loved to hear your thoughts on the wines. I will post some of the photos I showed you yesterday of the barrels and the wineries.
Germany uses a lot of German oak for their Riesling and base sparkling wine as well. Margarethenhof from Mosel is using new Mosel oak barrels for their single vineyard site and reserve Riesling.
They are 1000 Liter which is the traditional size and called Fuder. (265 Gallons). The sweet Riesling is fermented in stainless. The GG is made in a neutral German Oak barrel which has been used before. The toast is way less and the coopers are using a steaming technique for the thick oak staves.
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One gets the impression that not everyone has sobered upâŠ
I love German Weisburgunder, more so than Pinot Blanc! My problem with it is I canât wait long enough for it to reach its peak before Iâve drunk all my bottles 
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There must be an immense potential for German Sekt.
With the quality of Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay now coming out of the country, and with ripeness being less of an issue these days, it must be possible to create absolutely world class sparkling wines in Germany.
I guess one of the biggest issues is that it is rarely the main focus at the best estates?
Not my area of interest but those in the know will tell you it has been happening for a while now. Names such as Griesel, Krack, Raumland âŠ
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Keller, HaartâŠ.
I know they are working on interesting stuff. But it is certainly not their main focus or what they are known for. But Iâve never tasted a sparkling wine from any of them, so I donât know if they are actually making top tier sparkling wine.
This is not good, just more confusion. And I would disagree most wineries are not going by this system. If I think about the majority of top wines from Germany they either use the VDP system or go the complete opposite direction and go with Landwein so they can do whatever they want.
Aufricht is making incredible sparking wines.
Especially that guy with the huge cannons. He looks dangerous.
Just to make my previous post more clear. Then I am not saying that there are not good German winemakers that focus on sparkling wines, or other winemakers making really good versions in the country. I am aware of some.
But it doesnât seem to have taken off like SpĂ€tburgunder, with a new generation pushing the boundaries for what a SpĂ€tburgunder should/could be in the country. The raw material should really be there to do so.
Maybe I am just not aware of it. Maybe they donât market themselves well. Who knows.
Thanks so much to Lisa for bringing her lineup and giving us a detail run through. Its rare to taste a lot of German wines and have less than 10% of them be classic Riesling. But even those were not pradikat wines. That made it all the more interesting and fun. Plus, finally a Pinot Blanc with character!
Some quick notes. Personal favs would be 2020 Werther-Windisch, '14 Griesel, '22 Elbling, '20 Siegloch Weissburgunder, '20 Schumann Spatburgunder, '22 âBaby Sanhoseâ, '21 Margarethnhof Riesling and the '19 Wunderwerk Riesling.
- 2014 Griesel & Compagnie Grande RĂ©serve - Germany, Hessische BergstraĂe (5/3/2024)
This shows like a mature Champagne with oxidative and mushroom notes on the nose. The palate too shows that golden aura of maturing fruit. Hints of coffee, baked lemon and nuts. - 2018 Griesel & Compagnie Pinot Blanc Prestige Brut Nature - Germany, Hessische BergstraĂe (5/3/2024)
Nutty on the nose with notes of persimmon. Pretty and complex. More narrow on the palate with some sharpness and a dry finish. Intriguing nose though especially for a Pinot Blanc. - 2019 Weingut Dreissigacker Riesling Wunderwerk - Germany, Rheinhessen (5/3/2024)
Petrol and tire. That reductive thing blows off. The bottle was just popped. Pretty with a strong note of honey. Lovely and powerful. Showing a clear note of botrytis. I don't think I've personally have a trocken that showed this sort of higher pradikat quality with the honey and botrytis. It really made this quite expressive. - 2020 Gut Wilhelmsberg SpÀtburgunder Kitzinger Wilhelmsberg - Germany, Franken (5/3/2024)
Clearly darker and more extracted than the previous wine. Also more forward in fruit and wood. Very tannic and rich. Pure Pinot expression too. A more modern take on Pinot. - 2020 Schumann Blauer SpÀtburgunder Achtkantig - Germany, Baden (5/3/2024)
Earthy nose with a strong forest floor character. Lovely darker fruits. Good structure with noticeably balancing acidity and drying tannin. Lean bodied showing some stem inclusion. A good wine to sneak into a blind Burgundy lineup. Very classic Pinot. - 2020 Schumann Kaiserstuhl Grauer Burgunder Famose Schose A La Pink - Germany, Baden (5/3/2024)
Deep pink color. Herby strawberry nose. Very grippy palate. The wood is much more evident here than on the 2021. Again, a fun take on Pinot Gris aiming for relaxed party atmospheres. - 2020 Siegloch Weissburgunder vogelfrei - Germany, WĂŒrttemberg (5/3/2024)
Lots of color for a Pinot Blanc. Rich, complex nose showing banana and honey with a distinct mineral note. Complex on the palate especially for Pinot Blanc. Mature like qualities with richness and some grip from the three days of skin contact. A nicely surprising wine. Everyone took notice of this. - 2020 Werther-Windisch Blanc de Blancs Dosage Zero - Germany, Rheinhessen (5/3/2024)
Toasty nose showing some yeasty notes. Lean bodied belying the lack of dosage. Pithy and very dry. Fresh and food friendly. - 2021 Schumann Kaiserstuhl Grauer Burgunder Famose Schose A La Pink - Germany, Baden (5/3/2024)
Funky, reductive nose initially. Juicy with a strong cherry note. Very dry finish. The wood was evident in the background on this. A unique, fun, party friendly take on Pinot Gris. - 2021 Siegloch Riesling Sandhase - Germany, WĂŒrttemberg (5/3/2024)
Three weeks on skin at fermentation. This one is more strongly natty than the 'Baby Sandhose'. Juicy in the way those often are. - 2022 Margarethenhof Ayler Kupp Riesling Schiefermineral trocken - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (5/3/2024)
Classic German Riesling nose with notes of diesel and mineral. Focused and fresh with a sweet quality. Again mineral here on the palate. Clearly vinified dry but one could be fooled by the sweet flavor. A solid classic Riesling. - 2022 Margarethenhof Elbling Der Spritzige - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (5/3/2024)
Nose is soft and Rhone like with pear and melon. Oily texture yet with a fresh, mineral finish. Clean and dry. Well balanced but not quite acid driven. Lingers on the palate. The balance was a nice surprise given expectations. Strong value. - 2022 Siegloch Muskateller Landwein Neckar - Germany, WĂŒrttemberg (5/3/2024)
The whole table noted how much like a Gewurztraminer this smelled like. Sweet nose with spicy lychee. Juicy yet oily in the midpalate. Lingering herb quality around the edges. Very secondary driven for a Muscat. - 2022 Siegloch Riesling Baby Sandhase - Germany, WĂŒrttemberg (5/3/2024)
Heading more into natty territory but this one is quite friendly and tasty. Bright, pretty nose like a freshly cut fruit salad. Spicy with a strong pear note. Shows some of a skin quality from 7 days of contact at fermentation. Tasty.
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Can you use the same clones for sparkling as red with the same degree of success?
Riesling simply isnât as âgoodâ as Pinot/Chardonnay in sparkling wines.
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I simply donât know⊠I would imagine you could, but I donât know enough about potential issues.
I agree that riesling seems less interesting for sparkling wines. Only tasted a few, but wasnât that impressed. But that was also why I mentioned the three grapes I did. I would imagine that you could make some pretty serious sparkling wine from Pinot Blanc in Germany, but I donât know if clones would be an issue⊠educate me 
Back to the tasting. Werther-Windisch sounds pretty interesting.
Keller (Jr.) will be released later this year, but Haart must still be in the works?
Yes. The barriers to entry are pretty high for high quality sparkling wines.
Lots of Sekt and Pet Nats wherever you look, from different varietals, also from new âhotâ names: Seckinger, Kissinger, Heiligenblut, Klosterhof âŠ
The newâ BdN from Rings is supposed to be good.
But imagine someone as talented as Moritz Kissinger using his full focus and best grapes to make Sektâs. Then maybe the results would be absolutely stunning, who knows. That was my point about potential. It seems like a side project at many estates where the top material goes into still wines.
Raumland is focused only on sparkling and I believe Aufricht is as well. I was really impressed by a recent Raumland made from Pinot Noir and a recent Aufricht made 100% from Chardonnay.
@LasseK I would definitely recommend trying the Aufricht.
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