With shipping season in full swing it was as good an excuse as any to check in on some new wines I’ve been eager to try and make a dent in the net gain my cellar is experiencing. As the only member of my tasting group who regularly collects spatburgunder, I figured it would be an even better excuse to share and attempt a little bit of an educational tasting, and then we threw in a flight of chenin to round things out.
Our wotn was the Holger Koch Kaiserstuhl, which was a contribution from @DanR_1, followed by the Jakob Moise Belmont, while the least favorite were the E&M liaison and Fries vom Schiefer. Wines were loosely ordered by region, starting in baden and moving north to the mosel. All of them need more time, but it was good to see how they are young and how they line up with my palate. This ended up leaning more towards the educational side of the spectrum than hedonism, but still a good showing.
SPATBURGUNDER (AND CHENIN) STUDY - (4/12/2025-4/14/2025)
Chenin
Loire chenin with some age, young cali chenin. Most noticeable difference was not new world/old world but rather that both loire had RS and the cali had none! different experiences
- 2015 Clos de l'Ecotard Saumur Blanc - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur (4/14/2025)
Strong notes of lanolin and bruised orchard fruit, some chamomile, a little advanced for its age. High acid and almost a little spritzy to me, had some RS that added depth. - 2018 Marie Thibault-Cabrit Premier Nez - France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Touraine-Azay-le-Rideau (4/14/2025)
Great to check in on this after trying a bottle a few years ago, still really love it. Pretty noticeable RS, helps the wine change through the midpalate and have a longer finish. peachy stone fruit, maybe towards tropical. More rs, flavors change through the mid palate. Long finish, less floral. Nectarine, tangelo, loads of fruit left on that ripe stone/tropical line. Some almond frangipane - 2023 Failla Chenin Blanc Olivet Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (4/14/2025)
Acid+slate+tight minerality on the nose, also carried through on the palate and had a really long prickly finish. lemon and granny smith apple skin, but not in a textural way that I get with aligote - 2023 Pax Chenin Blanc Lyman Ranch - USA, California, Sierra Foothills, Amador County (4/14/2025)
Sharp apple, some tart citrus, more expressive fruit and some more typical florals and lanolin I get with chenin. Pretty high acid as well, but didn't stick out as much
Spatburgunder
Overall theme is that these wines need time. Some I will be more willing to check in on sooner rather than later, but realistically they should all hit the 5 year mark and still be decanted to show better. It was helpful that they were all so young and mostly the same vintage as it helped provide a better comparison point, but maybe made this a little less hedonistic of a tasting. I have leftovers of almost all the wines and will check in to see what a couple days of air will do.
- 2022 Jakob Moise Spätburgunder Belmont - Germany, Baden (4/14/2025)
black tea, cherry, raspberry, no real sous bois. Pretty ripe fruit. A little dirty and green. 'natural' without being flawed or offputting, this wine definitely makes me think moise will be one to watch - at least for my palate. - 2022 Holger Koch Kaiserstuhl Spätburgunder - Germany, Baden (4/14/2025)
Group wotn, more integrated tannins, darker ripe fruit, black cherry, plum, some savory citrus. A good reminder of why I like their wines so much. - 2022 Enderle & Moll Pinot Noir Liaison - Germany, Baden (4/14/2025)
I can't take my own advice and opened another one of these! Green and stemmy on opening, some apple skin texture, brighter slightly underripe fruit. Need to revisit. - 2022 Sven Enderle Pinot Noir - Germany, Baden (4/14/2025)
Very fun to taste side by side with E&M liaison of the same vintage which I think is the most comparable wine between the two. Just ripe cherry/raspberry with some citrus pith texture, with some high acid to tie everything together. Noticably green, but this is another one to watch as time goes on, I'll want to do another side by side in a year or two. - 2021 Shelter Winery Pinot Noir Lovely Lilly - Germany, Baden (4/14/2025)
sweeter ripe red fruit, much softer and integrated tannins, this showed well and was easy drinking. The one wine in a lineup of young spatburgunder that was double decanted, definitely benefitted from it. - 2020 Weingut Carsten Saalwächter Ingelheim Spätburgunder - Germany, Rheinhessen (4/14/2025)
2/2 bottles, this was the lightest wine initially in a young spatburgunder lineup - impressions consistent with my last note. Going to revisit, I expect this improved a fair amount with air. - 2022 Weingut Fries vom Schiefer Pinot Noir trocken - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (4/14/2025)
This had the ripest fruit and most noticeable oak. towards the end of the lineup and my palate was not firing on all cylinders, but a bigger bodied wine than expected. - 2022 Philip Lardot Pinot Noir - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (4/14/2025)
Cork soaked all the way through, noticable seam(?) running the length of it, I was a bit skeptical after opening but the wine seemed fine. This had good purity of fruit (cherry, raspberry) with some integrated sous bois, surprisingly open and delicious compared to other wines in the lineup
Posted from CellarTracker
If you’re familiar with these wines you probably know that more than a few were from Source Material/Vom Boden and Fass selections, they remain probably the most consistent and reliable sources for the newer wave of spatburgunder producers making distinctive wines. Big shoutout to @Robert_Dentice for all his spatburgunder proselytizing and work with source material.