2016 Bernhard Huber Schlossberg Pinot Noir Grosses Gewächs

Bernhard Huber

Germany / Baden / Bernhard Huber

Bright yellowish limestone par excellence. Schlossberg is considered the most concise vineyard in Breisgau and has been used for viticulture since 1492. It's a steep slope on a gradient of up to 72% (in the Kapelleberg part up to 96%). It requires purely manual work and the mineral, skeleton-rich soil with bright yellowish limestone is geologically rare within the Black Forest foothills. The main orientation is south to south west. It's an absolutely top location for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Of the vineyard’s 50 hectares, Huber's holdings are 6 ha, of which 5.49 ha are classified as Grosses Gewächs. The 6- to 35-year-old vines are planted with a density 6,250-13,000 vines/ha. The yield here is 28 hl/ha. The steep slope makes for very intense sun radiation. The wines have great inner warmth and depth, a firm structure, pronounced minerality and strong fruit.

Michael Schmidt

jancisrobinson.com

18.5/20

Medium-depth raspberry colour, pink rim. An enticing fragrance with notions of cassis, graphite and subtle spices has a very seductive quality. The palate follows up with plenty of juice, invigorating acidity, fresh fruit, subtle flinty minerality and a gentle notion of cedar spice.

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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.