Winemaker Notes
The palate is tannic and gravelly; it also leans in a “pine-needle” direction and yields to a smoky, stony detailed finish. The site is limestone layered with alluvial stones from the old Rhine, and this is the first wine to see any new wood.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted from lot L1017, Ziereisen's Pinot Noir 2015 Schulen opens with a pure, clear, fresh and fairly toasty yet intense and serious bouquet of dark berries and fresh oak (although only 10% of new oak was used during the 21 months of élevage, according to the back label). On the palate, this is a full-bodied and intense yet silky-textured and elegant Pinot with refreshing acidity and remarkable transparency. The finish is long and concentrated and wonderfully dry and refreshing in the aftertaste. The wine keeps its firm and persistent structure and is full of aging potential. Rating: 90+
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Wine Spectator
Vivid, with aromas of cherry blossom leading off, followed by tangy raspberry flavors and notes of earth and mineral. Features lingering spice details on the long, well-balanced finish. Harmonious. Best from 2021 through 2028.
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.”
