… at the end, the Germans always win
The Pinot Noir country competition
Werner Elflein
25 February 2012

Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.
In addition to Riesling, Pinot Noir (also known as Spätburgunder) is one of the traditional German grape varieties. As early as 884, Emperor Karl III brought the red grape to Germany, where it was first cultivated in the Lake Constance region and in Baden. From the 13th century onwards, it became more widespread, especially in the Rheingau, and later in the Palatinate and the Ahr.
Although the Pinot Noir is better suited than any other red wine variety to produce unique and incomparable, elegant, finesse-rich and multi-layered wines in a comparatively cool climate, after the Second World War German winegrowers mainly produced pale-coloured, thin drinks smelling of raspberry syrup. The reputation of the German Pinot Noir was thus sustainably damaged.
It was not until the 1980s that a few ambitious German winegrowers began to think about cultivating and developing Pinot Noir. After visits to Burgundy, it quickly became clear to them that the viticultural methods there could not be copied 1:1 and that the path to a sophisticated German Pinot Noir would have its own learning curve. They drastically reduced yields, separated from inferior high-yielding clones and perfected barrique ageing. Only gradually did this work bear fruit. Today German Pinot Noirs are quite capable of not only catching up with their Burgundian competitors, but in some cases even surpassing them in quality.
However, several of our jurors did not want to believe this at first. They insisted on the long winemaking tradition in Burgundy and pointed to the experience advantage of French winemakers, which could not be made up for within a few years. Two fractions formed. One saw Burgundy in the lead, the other expected an exciting head-to-head race in an unprejudiced blind tasting. The bet was on.
Each fraction chose nine wines of which they were particularly convinced. In addition, there were two so-called pirates, a Pinot Noir Précoce from the Ahr and a Pinot Noir from Croatia. When selecting the German Pinot Noirs, a wine from the lower price category was also deliberately chosen: the Pinot Noir from the Jakob Sebastian winery in the Ahr region cost just € 10 ex farm.
During the blind tasting, we asked the jurors to fill in the supposed origin of the individual wines on a questionnaire.

The result was surprising. The first three places were taken by German Pinot Noirs. Almost all the jurors thought that the first-placed Hecklinger Schlossberg by Bernhard Huber was a prototypical representative of Burgundy. Second place was shared by Friedrich Becker's Sankt Paul and Chat Sauvage's Assmannshäuser Frankenthal. With the Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru from Trapet, the best French Pinot reached only fourth place. And: The ten-euro Pinot Noir from Jakob Sebastian was easily able to keep up with some of the Premier Crus (€ 30 to € 40).
The evaluation of the questionnaires also showed: Only one juror was accurate in identifying the origins, all the others were only correct for about half of the wines – which would also have been expected with a random selection and a 50 percent hit probability.
The wines at a glance
Symbols
⧛ | mean value from our jury |
⚖ | blind tasting |
⛬ | barrel sample |
▲ | tasted wine shows a qualitative defect and was devalued or rejected accordingly |
Hauptstraße 29 • 76889 Schweigen-Rechtenbach • Germany
Phone: +49 6342 290 • Fax: +49 6342 6148
Internet: www.friedrichbecker.de • E-Mail: wein@friedrichbecker.de
WinereddryPinot Noir
2008 Schweigen Sonnenberg Sankt P**l Spätburgunder Qualitätswein trocken
Großes Gewächs VDP
Germany
Pfalz • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 5066012 36 10 • 13.5 % alcohol
15, Rue du Château • 21200 Beaune • France
Phone: +33 3 80248045
Internet: www.bouchard-pereetfils.com • E-Mail: caveau@bouchard-pereetfils.com
WinereddryPinot Noir
2005 Volnay Premier Cru Caillerets Ancienne Cuvée Carnot
France
Bourgogne ↳ Volnay • Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC)
13.5 % alcohol
16, Rue de Chorey • 21420 Savigny-lès-Beaune • France
Phone: +33 3 80215108 • Fax: +33 3 80261021
Winereddry to off-dryPinot Noir
2009 Savigny Premier Cru Les Narbantons
France
Bourgogne ↳ Savigny-lès-Beaune • Appellation d'origine protegée (AOP)
13.5 % alcohol
Hohlweg 23 • 65366 Geisenheim • Germany
Phone: +49 6722 937258 • Fax: +49 6722 937258
Internet: www.chat-sauvage.de • E-Mail: pinot@chat-sauvage.de
WinereddryPinot Noir
2009 Assmannshausen Frankenthal Pinot Noir Qualitätswein
Erstes Gewächs
Germany
Rheingau • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 26067 4 11 • 13.5 % alcohol
7, Route de Dijon • 21220 Gevrey-Chambertin • France
Phone: +33 3 80343399
WinereddryPinot Noir
2009 Gevrey-Chambertin
France
Bourgogne ↳ Gevrey-Chambertin • Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC)
13 % alcohol
Hohenlindenweg 46 • 63927 Bürgstadt am Main • Germany
Phone: +49 9371 8642 • Fax: +49 9371 69230
Internet: www.weingut-rudolf-fuerst.de • E-Mail: info@weingut-rudolf-fuerst.de
WinereddryPinot Noir
2009 Klingenberg Schlossberg Spätburgunder R Qualitätswein trocken
Großes Gewächs VDP
Germany
Franken • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 1095 11 11 • 13 % alcohol
Heimbacher Weg 19 • 79364 Malterdingen • Germany
Phone: +49 7644 929722 • Fax: +49 7644 929722
Internet: www.weingut-huber.com • E-Mail: info@weingut-huber.com
WinereddryPinot Noir
2008 Hecklingen Schlossberg Spätburgunder R Qualitätswein trocken
Großes Gewächs VDP
Germany
Baden • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 472 24 10 • 13.5 % alcohol
Bahnhofstraße 1 • 67592 Flörsheim-Dalsheim • Germany
Phone: +49 6243 456 • Fax: +49 6243 6686
Internet: www.keller-wein.de • E-Mail: info@keller-wein.de
WinereddryPinot Noir
2008 Dalsheim Bürgel Spätburgunder Qualitätswein trocken
Großes Gewächs VDP
Germany
Rheinhessen • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 4275043 52 10 • 13.5 % alcohol
Mannwerkstraße 4 • 79235 Vogtsburg-Bickensohl • Germany
Phone: +49 7662 912258 • Fax: +49 7662 949859
Internet: www.weingut-holger-koch.de • E-Mail: hk@weingut-holger-koch.de
WinereddryPinot Noir
2009 Pinot Noir Qualitätswein ***
Germany
Baden • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 3416 14 10 • 13 % alcohol
14, Rue des Seuillets • 21700 Nuits-Saint-Georges • France
Phone: +33 3 80610596
WinereddryPinot Noir
2009 Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Les Damodes
France
Bourgogne ↳ Nuits-Saint-Georges • Appellation d'origine protegée (AOP)
13.5 % alcohol
2, Rue Joseph Bard • 21200 Chorey-les-Beaune • France
Phone: +33 3 80221067
Internet: www.domainemaillard.com • E-Mail: contact@domainemaillard.com
WinereddryPinot Noir
2006 Corton-Renardes
Grand Cru
France
Bourgogne ↳ Corton • Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC)
13.5 % alcohol
1, Ruelle Morlot • 21200 Beaune • France
Phone: +33 3 80249998 • Fax: +33 3 80268876
Internet: www.lucienlemoine.com • E-Mail: l.m.sas@lucienlemoine.com
WinereddryPinot Noir
2007 Clos de la Roche
Grand Cru
France
Bourgogne ↳ Clos de la Roche • Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC)
13.5 % alcohol
Rue du Pied de la Vallée • 21190 Volnay • France
Phone: +33 3 80213914 • Fax: +33 3 80213907
Internet: www.demontille.com • E-Mail: contact@demontille.com
WinereddryPinot Noir
2007 Beaune Premier Cru Les Perrières
France
Bourgogne ↳ Beaune • Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC)
13 % alcohol • bottled under the former name de Montille – Deux Montille Soeur Frères
2, Place des Noyers • 21190 Chassagne-Montrachet • France
Phone: +33 3 80219983 • Fax: +33 3 80219260
Internet: www.vinpillot.com • E-Mail: contact@vinpillot.com
WinereddryPinot Noir
2005 Beaune Premier Cru Boucherottes
France
Bourgogne ↳ Beaune premier cru • Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC)
13.5 % alcohol
Brückenstraße 2 • 53506 Rech • Germany
Phone: +49 2643 9361-0 • Fax: +49 2643 9361-6
Internet: www.jakob-sebastian.de • E-Mail: info@jakob-sebastian.de
WinereddryPinot Noir
2006 Heimersheim Berg Spätburgunder Qualitätswein trocken
Germany
Ahr • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 1795083 11 07 • 13 % alcohol
Rohrbacher Straße 101 • 69181 Leimen • Germany
Phone: +49 6224 72178 • Fax: +49 6224 78363
Internet: www.seegerweingut.de • E-Mail: info@seegerweingut.de
WinereddryPinot Noir
2008 Heidelberg Herrenberg Blauer Spätburgunder R Qualitätswein trocken
Germany
Baden • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 620 24 10 • 13.5 % alcohol
Rotweinstraße 7-9 • 53506 Rech • Germany
Phone: +49 2643 3001 • Fax: +49 2643 3003
Internet: www.stodden.de • E-Mail: info@stodden.de
WinereddryPinot Noir
2009 Rech Herrenberg Spätburgunder Qualitätswein trocken
Großes Gewächs VDP
Germany
Ahr • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 1795090 7 11 • 13.5 % alcohol
WinereddryPinot Noir
2006 Spätburgunder Qualitätswein trocken
Germany
Ahr • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 1795090 1 08 • 13.5 % alcohol
53, Route de Beaune • 21220 Gevrey-Chambertin • France
Phone: +33 3 80343040 • Fax: +33 3 80518634
Internet: www.trapet.fr • E-Mail: message@trapet.fr
WinereddryPinot Noir
2009 Latricières-Chambertin
Grand Cru
France
Bourgogne ↳ Latricières-Chambertin • Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC)
13 % alcohol