Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2021 Spätburgunder Hohen-Sülzener Kirchenstück Grosses Gewächs shimmers translucently in the glass. It opens with a smoky whiff and a single mocha note that hovers above peony and cherry notes. The palate is tender. The red fruit has an overlay of smoky oak that will stand it in good stead over the years. Tannins are fine. A backbone of redcurrant-flavored 2021 freshness makes this vivid and mouth-watering. A fine-boned structure lends it a straight and upright spine. Nothing is overdone. This is a lovely and elegant limestone style of Pinot fruit. It was aged in used French pièce. No new wood was used. (Bone-dry)
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Kirchenstück Hohen-Sülzen Spätburgunder GG opens with very elegant and refined fruit aromas of black berries intertwined with some toasty notes. Silky, refined and very elegant on the palate, this is a lush and full-bodied yet delicate, filigreed and stimulatingly saline Pinot with good intensity and power on the finish, although the alcohol level is a moderate 12.5%. Natural cork.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
WUNWUN_BATKIRCH_21_2021 Item# 3025020