Senior Editor Stuart Pigott recently attended two fascinating tastings of German pinot noirs, with the larger of these a blind tasting of top wines from the 2020 and 2022 vintages in Wiesbaden. The tasting was organized by Ralf Frenzel, who publishes the German language wine magazine Fine and is the director of the Krone winery in the Rheingau, a small cult producer of these wines.
Some German critics have made huge claims for the nation's pinots, or spatburgunders, from the 2022 vintage, and this tasting confirmed the consistently high quality of the leading producers. Stuart had tasted a number of these wines before and you can find the original notes for some of those wines below.
One very striking thing at the Frenzel tasting was how many of the 2022s needed considerable aeration before they showed their true class. This strongly suggests that they have strong aging potential, so we recommend patience if you want to be wowed, or to wow others.
Two 2022s that Stuart had not tasted before showed magnificently. The Friedrich Becker Spätburgunder Pfalz Heydenreich GG 2022 is really powerful, but the mineral acidity and very fine tannins make it feel lighter than it really is. The compact finish has great structure and flinty character. The is just the latest stunning wine for a producer Stuart has been following closely for some time.