2015 Bernhard Huber Alte Reben Chardonnay

Bernhard Huber

Germany / Baden / Bernhard Huber

Vintage 2015 was characterised by a very mild winter and warm temperatures during spring, good conditions for equal shooting of the vines. This constancy continued through the whole cycle, resulting in very good flowering. With remarkable, high summer temperatures in 2015 the grapes ripened very well and the vineyards pulled surprisingly well through the dryness. We responded by picking early (we started at the end of August), and thus managed to keep vivid acid structure. Then, with the cold night-time temperatures that followed, wonderful fruit structure came through. We've never had such a relaxed harvest before.
The grapes for this Chardonnay are grown on yellow limestone. We harvest the Alte Reben at 35hl/ha. The wild yeast fermentation as well as the malolactic conversion is done in one-third new oak, with one-third two-year-old and one-third older barrels. After 20 months on the lees the wine is bottled unfiltered. Chardonnay grown on weathered limestone always shows characteristics of fine-fruited freshness, vivid acid structure and a fine finish. - Julian Huber

April, 2019

Gary Walsh

The Wine Front

94 points.

White fruit, struck match, spicy oak, hazelnut, dried herb and flower perfume. Rich in oak and flavour, lime and toasted nuts, spicy and firm, intense acidity, toasty oak and grip on a nuts and lime finish of good length. No shrinking violet, that’s for sure.

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About Bernhard Huber

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. I was lucky enough to visit Bernhard on three or four occasions over the last five years and every time came away more and more convinced that these are world-class Pinots by any measure. Winemaking responsibilities have passed to Bernhard’s son Julian, who’s inherited his father’s passion for Baden and dedication to quality.

About

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.