Winemaker Notes
Even today, the Catholic parish church in Dernau remains the landowner of this plot – hence the name “Pfarrwingert”, which mean “parish vineyard”. The particularly favorable southern exposure and the incline, in combination with a soil that is able to gently heat up, creates an advantageous microclimate. The greywacke we find here is a grainy debris sediment which, together with argillaceous shale, is baked by the sun to create a sandstone-like structure. Thus the Pfarrwingert produces markedly aromatic wines with subtle fruit and fine flavors.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very seductive nose of ripe black cherries with discreet, spicy oak. At once ripe, generous, silky and fresh, showing why this region has a long, pinot noir tradition. Long, focused finish with refreshing tannins and acidity. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Fermented in new oak at 70%, the 2018 Dernauer Pfarrwingert Spätburgunder GG is intensely fruity, refined and floral on the pure, elegant nose that is, however, a result of a very warm year and very ripe berries. There are plums, and it's warm and concentrated or even jammy, despite the crystalline slate expression. Pure, fresh and salty on the palate, this is a tight and fresh, well-structured and crystalline, vital Pinot with grip and tension on the complex and persistent finish. This is definitely a wine to be aged for some years, at least. Tasted twice in August 2020.
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.”
