2013 Frauenberg Spatburgunder Grosses Gewachs
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Tasting notes
As usual, this bottling reflects its vineyard’s sélection massale as well as Keller’s utilization of stems in delivering a more floral, carnal, structurally refined and energetic performance than the corresponding Bürgel. Smoked meat, bittersweet floral perfume and fresh dark berry aromas billow from the glass. Brightly tangy dark berries mingle with deeply savory salted meat stock on a polished though firm palate, taking on a hint of ginger that enhances the sense of invigoration conveyed to a mouthwateringly sustained finish. (There were six barriques , or around 150 cases, of this.)
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Average Score
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
David Schildknecht, Vinous
More reviews and scores
From French mass selections planted in 1996 and picked with 35 hectoliters per hectare, the 2013 Frauenberg Spätburgunder trocken GG has a clear and subtle yet aromatic bouquet of red and dark berries (raspberries, wild black berries, cassis), along with some flinty/smoky flavors. Intense, concentrated and firm on the palate, this is a full-bodied, powerful and firmly structured Pinot. It has a velvet texture, ripe and grippy tannins ,and a persistently sweet and concentrated flavor of ripe cherries and red fruit jelly in the finish. The wine has more power and body than the Bürge,l but also needs more time to develop. It's from a cooler and windier plot, and always the last Pinot harvested at Keller. The 2013 was aged in used barrels, whereas only the 2012 was still in new barrels until the malolactic fermentation was finished.
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.