Florals, gunflint, tropical fruits and cool river bed stones. Palate has lithe notes and round notes. Love the crisp white and yellow fruit tones, rounded by a slight kiss of more rich honey and a spicy subtle oak note. Wife calls out “steely” and she’s right. Very cool climate in profile, steely notes, slate and cool fruit profile. Don’t get me wrong, though, there is an intense, concentrated ripeness to this wine as well. Pretty interesting balance in play.
Actually, if you like balanced acidity 2021 IS the easiest (recent) vintage.
I’d basically given up drinking German wine. The Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Kabinetts that were a staple for half of my life were simply now too soft and lacked the vivacity that made these my summer whites. 2021 brought back the balance.
What @Kirk.Grant mentioned upthread. The Kühling-Gillot is just excellent. Most of your descriptors BTW hit on what German Chardonnay can deliver. Happy hunting.
Not a big fan of Ziereisen’s Chardonnay. It’s well made but seems to miss what I love in German Chard, especially the florals.
Some other names that pop into my head for good chards are Knewitz and Hofmann. Not sure if either is available stateside. Hofmann also makes or made a wine out of the rare Rosa Chardonnay. That too is chock full of German Chardonnay character.
Bernhard Huber all Chardonnays from entry Malterdinger (100% Chard from 2021) up to GGs
Knewitz Chardonnay Reserve
Moritz Kissinger Chardonnay
Richard Östreicher Rossbach Chardonnay
Knipser Chardonnay *** and **** Reserve
If you like it a little „natty“ you‘ll enjoy also Seckinger Kapellenberg and Saalwächter.
I certainly also, more often, get more floral notes in some German Chardonnay. But it seems to be from certain clones.
There is a lot of good Chardonnay in Germany. But just like Spätburgunder there are so many different expressions from different clones. A bit of a minefield, but an interesting one!
Moritz Kissinger’s Chardonnay is my favourite so far.
Sorry just getting back to this. German Chardonnay is a a really exciting category. Not many come into the U.S. but that is changing. Just like Spätburgunder many of these growers have spent time in Burgundy, are learning what the best sites are for Chardonnay and are really passionate about it. Here are some names to look out for that do come into the U.S.
Keller - Felix is in charge of the Chard program and has made incredible strides.
Saalwächter - Thank you, Nikata for mentioning these. BTW for that don’t know Nikata is one of the top sommeliers in NYC and a great addition here. We do sell these at source | material.
Jonas Dostert - This has one foot in the natural camp. Notwithstanding that, it is a profound wine. I think @Martin_Zwick posted about it. Jonas spent some time in Burgundy at Leflaive, make no mistake this is not Leflaive. We also sell this.
Seckinger - I am obsessed with these Chardonnays based on the 3 or 4 I have had this year. These are great values. I wish we sold them!
Wasenhaus - Both of the winemakers spent significant time in Burgundy. They have some of the best old vine parcels in Baden.
@Robert.A.Jr I would also suggest you try certain Silvaners (e.g., Saalwächter) and Weissburgunders (e.g, Schafer-Frohlich, Wasenhaus) as to me they have a white burgundy type profile.
I could not be more excited for the current and future state of German wine and I would be more than happy to do open a bunch of these wines for you if we can find a mutual date.
