German red wine is a relatively unknown quantity in the UK, which is probably why we were able to acquire a few bottles of this fine Spätburgunder fairly cheaply from a restaurant which may have been having trouble offloading them from its wine list. In terms of restaurant wine lists, going off-road to relatively unfamiliar regions and countries can be a good strategy, improving your odds of finding a relative bargain. Wine lists can be intimidating things for many people, and restaurants know that many people who have a passing familiarity with wine will order by grapes, makers and areas they recognise, which is why the more well-known names are always liable to command a certain premium. If the odder sorts of wine have made it onto those lists, that is usually a sign in their favour. So a punt on a German red wine in a UK restaurant might be quite a good one - less so in a German restaurant, where it would just be whatever was available locally.
Spätburgunder is German Pinot Noir. With young, fairly intense fruit on the nose, I’d probably have guessed that the Meyer-Näkel was a New World, and I wouldn’t have hit on Pinot Noir. The vanilla notes that evidence oak aging are also slightly dusty, suggesting a stay in French rather than American barrels. It is rather fleshy on the palate, tasting – in classic Italian style – of morello cherries and, showing up in the slightly bitter aftertaste, their stalks.
When we first tasted the wine in its infancy a year ago, there was none of that bitterness, and it tasted more simply of a New World Pinot Noir. The difference this time led me to speculate that the wine had no future, that it was destined to hollow out as the fruit disappeared, leaving only dry, bitter notes. However, when we returned to this bottle the following day, the bitterness had gone, along with some of the fruit, to be replaced by attractive dark chocolately notes, and hints of Christmas spice. Delicious.
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