Hexamer - Spätburgunder Rotwein No1 Trocken 2018

Druva

Spätburgunder

Tasting note

Spätburgunder is a demanding grape variety in terms of soil, climate and weather conditions and is the leading red grape variety in Germany. Spätburgunder wines taste full and velvety, have a fruity taste with almond nuances. The typical Spätburgunder has a slightly sweet aroma of red fruit, from strawberries to cherries and blackberries to blackcurrants. Barrique wines also have hints of vanilla and cinnamon. A distinction is made between the classic and the modern type. Traditionally, the best Pinot Noir wines were made from very ripe grapes, they were not very colorful, mild, low in tannins and had a reddish color. In addition to this classic type, the modern Spätburgunder with a deeper red color, more tannins and less pronounced oak tones from barrique aging is becoming increasingly important. Spätburgunder red wines are suitable all year round but are ideal for the cooler months of the year. They are drunk chilled to 16 to 18 degrees. Full-bodied varieties are best served with roast meat, game or a cheese platter. Weißßherbst is good with starters and white meat, and in selected quality also as an aperitif. The grape is also very popular in rosé wines.

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Wines of Germany

Technical sheet

Harald Hexamer sent me a small tasting package in September in the hope that I would take the quality as an opportunity to visit the winery again after some years of absence. That would be well deserved, but it hasn't happened yet. In any case, the package only contained four 2023s, including the wonderful Marbach Auslese.

Harald writes the following about the vintage: “After a spring that was fortunately free of capricious weather, we had almost no rainfall worth mentioning in the months of May and June as the year progressed. July was also very dry at the beginning, and only toward the end did it deliver a good 50 liters per square meter. Due to the drought and the high temperatures, the vineyards had noticeably shifted down two gears.

"As I reject artificial irrigation and have adapted the vineyards, which are not spoiled by it, to such situations better, there were neither yellow leaves nor permanent damage.

"August was almost excessive again with 100 liters of rainfall. Fortunately, September was quite dry but also quite warm, which allowed ripening to progress quickly and a few berries to dry out quickly.

"On September 13th, we started the harvest, the earliest start ever. The must weights were good, the acidity values okay, the aromas great. The berries, which remained quite small due to the initial drought, nevertheless produced a good average yield.

"On September 23, we harvested Riesling for the first time. Our highest vineyard in the Meddersheimer Altenberg, a good 300 meters above sea level, had 80° Oechsle and 10.5 grams per liter of total acidity, which are dream levels for Kabinett. The Pinot varieties and Rieslings that we harvested later on were healthy and very aromatic thanks to good preparatory work. The first botrytis did not appear until the beginning of October, but with a few exceptions, it remained very manageable. In mid-October, we touched the 100° Oechsle mark for the first time in the Rheingrafenberg, otherwise most of the Rieslings were between 88° and 95° Oechsle. On October 24, we ended the harvest with the Riesling Auslese from the Marbach. However, higher qualities or even ice wine were out of the question.

"As we have always done since the 2000 vintage, we fermented all the wines spontaneously in 2023 and only had to help out here and there with cultured yeast. The result is delicate, fruity wines that offer almost all the aromas of an orchard, with a beautifully integrated minerality.

"Whether dry Gutsriesling, Eisendell, Kabinett or Auslese, I am impressed by the 2023 vintage. In terms of aging potential, it should be a great vintage."

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Stephan Reinhardt for Robert Parker Wine Advocate