A Pinot Star in Germany, Plus Hitting New Heights in McLaren Vale: Weekly Tasting Report (May 10-16)

Our latest Weekly Tasting Report covers 786 wines from 10 countries, but it was a discovery from Ingelheim in Germany’s Rheinhessen region that really caught our attention.

“I’d just started work on tasting Germany this year when I was introduced to Dr. Simone Adams, a young woman winemaker whose wines turned out to be a revelation,“ Senior Editor Stuart Pigott said. “The most remarkable of a very strong range is the red Adams Wein Spätburgunder Rheinhessen Pares 2020, and tasting it was like discovering there was a top Burgundian domaine that nobody knew about!”

“It stands out for its combination of the great concentration and staggering length for just 12.5 percent alcohol, but is still tightly wound,” Stuart said. “I would wait until at least 2025, but her village red wine, the Adams Wein Spätburgunder Rheinhessen Ingelheim 2020, is already delicious and stunning for the category. A star is born!”

Stuart has referred to the Rheinhessen region as the “Dream Factory” of German dry white wines since the last turn of the century, but Ingelheim, he said, got left behind, with most people knowing it as the home of the pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim rather than for wine. This happened because historically, Ingelheim was the sole place in the region focused on red spatburgunder wines, otherwise known as pinot noir. And German red wines were in the wilderness for decades.

“So much knowledge was lost that the new generation of winemakers – including Adams – started from scratch,” Stuart said. What makes her achievements even more extraordinary is that she was working on her doctorate (on the premature aging of riesling wines) at the famous Geisenheim wine school when her father died in 2010 and she was thrust into the role of winemaker at the 10-hectare family winery.

“I was lucky that my uncle could show me and all the vineyards and explain them,” Adams told Stuart, “but it was a long process converting to organic, then biodynamic, cultivation and finding my own wine style.”

We think it was worth the wait.

Stuart also made an important discovery in the Mosel in the form of the Lorenz winery in the unknown village of Detzem. “The single-vineyard rieslings made by Tobias Lorenz in 2021 are remarkable, most important of which is the dry Lorenz Riesling Mosel Held GG 2021,” he said. “When I smelled this wine I could almost hear the bees buzzing as they collect nectar in a garden full of flowers. It has astonishing richness and structure for the challenging vintage.”

Stuart also started tasting the wines of the 2022 vintage in Germany that are just beginning to come onto the market. “It was a hot year and the worst drought in living memory. In some wines you can taste that the vines suffered, while others are ripe and charming,” Stuart said.

James and Stuart have been following August Kesseler of Assmannshausen in the Rheingau since the late 1980s. Kesseler has always been an outspoken producer who has called out industry problems. “I am a bit skeptical about the 2022 vintage,“ he told Stuart. “There are certainly some delicious wines, but I don’t think they will age so long.”

Stuart agreed that the best 2019s and 2021s will be longer-living than most of the 2022s, but added that “a wine like the barely off-dry August Kesseler Riesling Rheingau Berg Schlossberg Alte Reben 2022 has got some years ahead of it. I love the wonderful white peach and orange blossom aromas and the cool, crisp personality of the palate. Thank goodness some wines like this were possible in 2022.”

Study the notes below to find the first standout wines of Germany’s 2022 vintage and some excellent late-released 2021s. More in-depth reporting on 2022 will follow during the coming months.

Stuart also tasted several amazing dry whites from Alsace in France, of which the Muré Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Vorbourg Clos Saint Landelin 2019 was truly spectacular.

“This is one of the great dry rieslings of the vintage in Alsace,” Stuart said. “It marries the power and massive structure these wines are capable of with a stunning vitality and diamond brightness at the long chalky finish. It's probably the best dry white that Thomas and Veronique Mure have ever made.” More on Alsace will also follow in coming reports.

READ MORE BORDEAUX EN PRIMEUR REPORT: ‘ASTONISHING’ 2022 SETS A NEW BENCHMARK

SOARING QUALITY IN MCLAREN VALE

McLaren Vale is not only the most exciting region in Australia but also the most geologically diverse – from red-brown sandy loam soil to yellow clays smattered with limestone, to pure sand in prized zones such as Blewitt Springs as well as red and black friable loams.

The soils naturally inform what grape varieties should go into ground, and producers’ knowledge of the topography, mesoclimates and capacity for water retention and drainage help instill a confidence in their craftsmanship and respect for nature that serve as the foundation for making McLaren Vale one of the world’s great wine-producing regions.

While the learning is ongoing, confidence inspires foresight, a candid openness and a palpable spirit of collegiate adventure among McLaren Vale producers, asserted as the highest number of certified organic and biodynamic wineries in Australia and groundbreaking initiatives including self-imposed water restrictions and the country’s first water-recycling program, responsible for in excess of 50 percent of vineyard irrigation.

While a good swath of the region’s grenache is truly world-class, its many top wines prove the lazy expression “alternative varieties,” oft-used in Australia, to be a laughable anachronism. McLaren Vale’s better expressions of nero d’avola, aglianico (check out S.C. Pannell’s), mourvedre (mataro) and solo and blended riffs on grenache blanc, gris, picpoul and other Mediterranean grapes are unequivocally among the most exciting wines in Australia.

These cultivars are sturdy, water-resistant and robust. They produce wines of weight and structural latticework to tone fruit sweetness, while imbuing poise and freshness. They are responsible for great wines elsewhere as they are here. They are meant to be grown in the Vale, and if anything is “alternative,” it will likely be the so-called classic varieties.

Recent tastings attest to the soaring quality. Bondar’s Higher Springs 2021 showcases the attenuated ripening of this exceptional, Euro-styled vintage. Think kirsch, perk and crunchy length. The Brash Higgins CRGN 2021 is also wonderful drinking across a firm bone of tannin, saline freshness and dried Mediterranean herb, typical of carignan. Both of these labels are responsible for stellar wines from opening act to the top-drawer.

Yet perhaps it is Aphelion and maker Rob Macke’s deeper dive into single-site expressions that attest to Grenache’s potential for grandeur, with Macke saying that the Aphelion Brini Grenache 2022 “pushes the envelope” of ripeness. Redolent of wild strawberry underlain with white pepper and herbaceousness, it is a doppelganger for fine pinot noir and will fill out with some age.

– Stuart Pigott and Ned Goodwin MW contributed reporting.

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.