I am sorry about the delay in posting. There was a period when I did not taste any interesting wines, and then I tasted at ProWein, the largest wine fair in the world with about 5000 exhibitors in more than ten large halls. It is an annual event at Düsseldorf, Germany. One can only scratch the surface in this three day event, and I was too tired to post during these days. In order to cover at least some ground, I had to move quickly and did not take detailed notes. So the following posts reflect only summary observations.
In the morning of the first day I tasted Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) from Germany. This is perhaps the most significant development in the wine world right now. It is driven by two factors: climate change and the replacement of German clones with French clones. German clones used to be focussing on yield and are generally not well suited to high quality wines. This replacement has been going on for some time and is now bearing fruit (pun unintended). These developments are significant, because we now have wines of Burgundy quality at a fraction of the price.
Most wines were from the warm 2022 vintage. Not surprisingly then, the most impressive Spätburgunder came from more northerly regions in Germany. GG (grosses Gewächs) wines from the Ahr featured prominantly, in particular Sonnenberg from Meyer-Näckel, Silberberg and other GGs from Kreuzberg, and Herrenberg from Jean Stodden. These wines had good fruit concentration and a lot of energy and drive. Equaly impressive was the 2021 Braunberger Klostergarten from highly regarded Markus Molitor, a complex wine reflecting the slate based terroir.
In contrast, the wines from the more tradional areas associated with Spätburgunder, Baden and Pfalz, had a broader profile in the mouth. The Hölle wine from Thörle, with perhaps the highest profile, was a bit simpler, but with an attractive minerality.
From the South, I was impressed with the Steinkaul of Fürst and the Steinhalde of Knab, both from 2018.
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