2020 Frauenberg Spatburgunder Grosses Gewachs
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Tasting notes
The meaty, saline and savory elements on the nose are even more striking than in the corresponding Bürgel, suggesting mussels and escargot, while the fruity dimension evokes cherry and grenadine. Pithy concentration and a palpable impression of berry seed crunch and a peppery bite somehow coexist with an underlying sense of polish and gloss as well as a brightness that are scarcely achievable other than with Pinot Noir. Rich, smoky suggestions of nut oils add further intrigue and appeal, beautifully dovetailing with the aforementioned savory, animal elements. “The pronounced piquancy [Würze] and overt sense of [tannic] structure in Frauenberg puts me in mind a bit of Barolo,” comments Keller while I’m tasting this wine. In fact, the sense of bittersweet, inner-mouth, floral perfume that is a memorable part of this beauty’s finish is also Nebbiolo-like. Like the other vintage 2020 Keller Pinots, this was bottled in July of 2022 after having been moved to tank for a few months. It’s scheduled for release in spring of 2023.
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Keller's 2020 Nieder-Flörsheim Frauenberg Rheinhessen Spätburgunder GG shows an intense and spicy, still slightly untamed and leathery stable bouquet with ripe, well-concentrated, slightly toasty fruit. Full-bodied, intense and fleshy on the palate, with ripe, elegant fruit and grippy tannins, this is a generous, textured and silky Pinot from limestone soils that reveals fine, vivacious acidity with still grippy and saline phenols. A Pinot with soul that will reveal its real class after some years in the bottle. 12.5% stated alcohol. Tasted in Wiesbaden, August 2022.
Floral and ripe red-fruit aromas, hibiscus with a touch of late-summer raspberries and a delicate spice. A gilded thread of acidity is wrapped tightly around a supple fruit centre. A cool, balanced beauty whose nuanced flavours tell the soothing story of the warmth of Rheinhessen, the wide, rolling hills and deep chalky banks. Elegance and energy with refined, chalky tannins and a beautiful, lingering finish. (PS)
50% whole bunch. Foot-trodden, basket-pressed. 14–16 days on the skins and 16 months in barrel on lees. Bottled April 2022. East-facing site. All the vines are now mass-selection plant material from Burgundy, after top-grafting. Bright mid to light crimson. Not as openly scented as the Bürgel at first until it starts to warm up then it becomes sweeter-smelling, with intense red fruit – strawberry, sweet vanilla-edged raspberry. And the whole-bunch component seems to show less than in the Bürgel, perhaps because there is more fruit concentration here. A touch of vanilla but the oak is very subtle. Utterly charming, intoxicating aroma – pure and seductive at the same time. Richer and more powerful on the palate than I expected from the aromas. Firm, dry tannic finesse, more structured and in perfect harmony with the fruit. A beauty. (JH)
About the producer
Based in the Rheinhessen, Keller is one of the finest Riesling producers in the world, and has set the benchmark for German Pinot Noir.