2015 Baden Blauer Spatburgunder Talrain
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Tasting notes
Bottled only for the second time, the Pinot Noir 2015 Talrain offers a pure, warm and refined, highly elegant and beautifully balanced and well-articulated bouquet of ripe dark cherries and wild forest berries intermixed with herbal and spicy notes that reflect the iron-rich limestone soil of this very particular terroir at 500 meters above sea level. The 2014 nose was already impressive, but this 2015 is fascinating in its purity, freshness and precision. On the palate, this is a generous, amazingly silky but also lush and generous Pinot with fine tannins and a very long and tensioned finish. This Talrain comes pretty close to the Jaspis level, and if it were a Burgundy, it would be between village and 1er cru level from a top producer. What peppery tension and vitality on the finish! The iron intertwines perfectly with the finesse and elegance of the Jurassic limestone terroir. An amazing wine from a great vintage and most probably the best buy here from this vintage. Compared to the Rhini, which comes from similar soil, the Talrain is even more refined and intense. It has this X factor that makes it a premier cru among the village wines. The 2015 can even compete with the 2015 Jaspis, although it seems to be less concentrated and tight on the palate. The finish, however, is so full of energy and finesse that the Talrain remains my favorite 2015 from Hanspeter Ziereisen (as long as the Jaspis Alte Reben [old vines] is not released). Tasted from lot L2217.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
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I tasted both the 2014 and 2015 vintages from this newly acquired site with a slightly cooler microclimate than Ziereisen’s other Spätburgunder locations. Both vintages show a delightful cool freshness, and maybe I slightly prefer the 2015 because it is a little less lean and exhibits some truly vibrant fruit with juicy morello-cherry leanings. If the 2014 appeared a little twiggier, the 2015 has more of an inky touch on the finish. Lean but not mean, something for admirers of the streamlined version of Pinot Noir. Don’t look for hidden criticism between the lines, I bought some. (MS)