Description
The Huber winery is located in Malterdingen in the winegrowing region of Baden in the foothills of the Black Forest mountains in Germany’s deep south west. Pinot Noir has been cultivated in the village for well over 700 years, having been brought there from Burgundy by the Cistercian monks. About two-thirds of the 25 ha estate is given over to Pinot Noir, and from these vines Bernhard Huber made scintillating wines right up to his death from illness in June 2014. This gracious gentleman had taken pointers in the early days from his great friend Jacques Seysses at Domaine Dujac but never tried to make his Pinots taste like Burgundy, instead drawing on those ideas to express the sites around Malterdingen and surrounding villages. Winemaking responsibilities have passed to Bernhard’s son Julian, who’s inherited his father’s passion for Baden and dedication to quality.
Julian Huber grew up among the vines in Malterdingen, an apprentice to the “wizard of German Pinot Noir”, as Jancis Robinson’s German specialist Michael Schmidt referred to Julian’s father, Bernhard. Julian studied winemaking at the world-famous institute at Geisenheim in the Rheingau. He returned from his final year there to work Bernhard’s final vintage in 2013. Since Bernhard’s death in 2014, Julian’s taken up the winemaking mantle with aplomb, displaying the same humble energy and vision for which his father was rightly admired.
The great Australian wine oracle, James Halliday, once wrote: “German Pinot Noir – why you need it in your life”. In his tasting of the 2012’s, Halliday commented on hitting the first grand cru: “As you ascend the steps of the quality ladder of Huber, the quality of each wine seems to be incapable of being overtaken, but it is.” As if to prove the point, he then encountered the Schlossberg and wrote: “Improbably, there is another level, here in unassailable Grand Cru country, a toss-up between Vosne-Romanée and Gevrey-Chambertin, with echoes of each.”
About this wine from the winemaker: “Our Malterdinger Spätburgunder Alte Reben is labelled as old-vine VDP Ortswein but we think of it as a village 1er cru from our home in Malterdingen. The Pinot Noir grapes grow on weathered shell limestone, with the vines aged 20 to 45 years. After the traditional must fermentation, the 18-month maturation takes place in small first-, second- and third-use French oak barrels filled with first, two and thirds. The wine is bottled without filtration.” Julian Huber
93 points. Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate “Huber’s 2021 Alte Reben Spätburgunder is based on destemmed grapes from old vines cultivated in different parcels around the village of Malterdigen and includes parcels from the Bienenberg grand cru. Aged in 40% new barriques that might be less delicate than those used for the GGs, this 2021 offers an intense bouquet of ripe dark fruits but also reveals remarkable finesse and purity. The wine is full-bodied, dense, juicy and structured by fine and spicy tannins, and it has good freshness and lingering, stimulating salinity. This is an ageworthy Pinot that sells for 45 euros. 13.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork.”
RRP $174 Our Special Price $162.99 – EXTREMELY LIMITED!
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.