Not Pinot Noir As We Know It

A few months ago, the Good Doctor showed SWMBO and I a German Pinot Noir from Chat Sauvage in the Rheingau.  A quality focussed, but new producer who has Burgundy as the model, planting Pinot Noir (and Chardonnay) in some famous sites.  The wine was the 2012 Lorcher Schlossberg Pinot Noir 2012.  It was a revelation in that it was still youthful and sweetly rich, but showed complexing nuances that fine Burgundy can attain.  We were impressed.

So in our next order, we thought we’d try the 2013 Chat Sauvage Assmannhausen Hollenberg Pinot Noir, from a village and site that’s pretty highly rated and with Chat Sauvage’s oldest plantings sited there.  We had The Grove Men in town visiting, so it seemed the ideal time to open it.  Well, it was a different beast altogether.  Much younger and dis-jointed in componentry, the fruit somewhat raw and yet to settle.  The tannin and acid stood out.  It was not really a pleasant drink on opening.  Suddenly, our impressions of German Pinot Noir were not what they had built up to be.  The goal posts had changed.  But time seems to fix most things, and a couple of hours down the track came the tell-tale red berry fruit and floral aromas and flavours.  Yes Pinot Noir, but different again from the model.  SWMBO and I struggled through the bottle, not really caring for it, But by two days later, it was deep and sweet, the tannins and acid had become part of the whole.  It was impressive wine too.  The Good Doctor knows his vinous medicines.