Winemaker Notes
Germany is the world’s third largest producer of Pinot Noir, after France and the U.S. Villa Wolf captures the German style perfectly with medium bodied aromas and flavors of ripe black plums, raspberries, shortbread and hint of spice. The emphasis is on juicy fruit, not oak.
Drinks like a Beaujolais with true Pinot Noir character, a perfect foil for poultry and pork dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Burnt caramel, violet candy and freshly dug beets scent this boldly perfumed Pinot Noir. It’s an easy drinking, crisply concentrated red marked by pert red cherry and plum flavors edged by delicate char and smoke. Solidly made and priced quite reasonably, it’s a super find that’s best enjoyed now–2024.
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.”
This sunny and relatively dry region served for many years as a German tourist mecca and was associated with low cost, cheerful wines. But since the 1980s, it has gained a reputation as one of Germany’s more innovative regions, which has led to increased international demand.