Heitlinger 2020 Pinot Noir VDP.GUTSWEIN

Weingut Heitlinger is at home in the idyllic landscape between Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, and Heilbronn known as the Kraichgau. This ambitious ambassador of Kraichgau wine culture lend the Baden region a special note. The pursuit of quality, sustainability, and a responsible approach to nature is the hallmark of the estate. With a combined vineyard area of more than 110 ha (272 acres), they number among Germany’s largest organic wine producers. Heitlinger is member of the VDP (Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates), an organization comprising some of the country’s finest wine producers. The soils consist of loess and colored marl. The latter is typical in the Kraichgau, but with the exception of a few patches in France (in the Jura, Burgundy, and the Rhone Valley), colored marl is seldom found elsewhere in the world. This type of soil lends the wines a special, fruity-mineral character that is particularly prevalent in the premium wines from the so-called Grosse Lagen (vineyards classified by the VDP as the very finest of a respective region). Heitlinger cultivates vines in the Grosse Lage sites Spiegelberg, Heinberg, Eichelberg, Königsbecher, Schellenbrunnen, and Hassapfel. Members of the Pinot family, “Burgunder” in German, account for 70 percent of all plantings, including Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Auxerrois. Germany’s first Auxerrois wine from a Grosse Lage – the Hassapfel site – was produced in 2012.

Heitlinger believes that biologically active soils are a prerequisite for healthy, stable vines. Winemaker Claus Burmeister’s team uses no artificial, chemically synthesized substances and improves soil fertility by fostering biodiversity with green cover that provides a habitat for a wealth of flora, fauna, and microorganisms.Regardless of quaity category, be it a regional Gutswein or a premium wine from a Grosse Lage, all grapes are individually processed and vinified in order to bring forth each parcel’s distinctive characteristics. The entire crop is harvested exclusively by hand, during several rounds through the vineyards, to ensure that only ripe and undamaged grapes are processed. Upon arrival at the estate, the grapes are painstakingly sorted again. To increase the intensity of aromas and flavors in the finished wine, the grape juice is cooled down and kept in contact with the skins for up to six days to extract as many aroma and flavor compounds as possible prior to fermentation. This brings forth a wine’s site-specific individuality and enhances its longevity. Cellar procedures are extremely gentle thanks to the help of pneumatic presses and the use of natural gravity rather than pumps. The Pinots Grosse Gewächse (dry wines from Grosse Lage sites) are matured exclusively in large and small oak casks (barriques).

The grapes are gently harvested by hand in several stages to ensure that only ripe and healthy berries arrive in the cellar. At the estate, they are carefully sorted, and as whole berries and clusters, fermented in small batches in wooden casks. Ruby red in color. On the nose the wine is spicy, earthy, and fruity. Well structured and lively on the palate. Good acidity. Tastes of cherry and cassis. Clear varietal character. This wine goes well with beef, steak, lamb or a traditonal beefstew.