1HUBALTREBPN20

Details

With Germany's cool climate and emphasis on aromatic whites, especially Riesling, you'd be forgiven for overlooking Spatburgunder, as Pinot is known locally. I remember tasting a few Spatburgunders back in the 90s and wrote them off as thin and weedy.

But times have changed and German winemakers are having increasing success with Pinot. Thanks partially to climate change, it's due also to the determination and skill of a handful of the top producers, most notably Bernhard Huber. It was a wine of Huber's that I tasted a few years ago which forced me to rethink my view on Spatburgunder. Huber is recognised as Germany's top Pinot producer.

“A comprehensive tasting of his wines not only convinced me that he was an absolute leader in Germany, but that he was a serious contender in the whole world of Pinot Noir,” Michael Schmidt (Jancis Robinson's German specialist).

“The German godfather of Pinot Noir,” Decanter Magazine.

“Germany’s greatest Pinot Noir producer,” Joel B. Payne, chief editor of the Gault Millau German Wine Guide (The Gambero Ross of Germany).

“ I have seen the occasional German Pinot that was decidedly promising. But the Huber Pinot Noirs take the whole game on to another level," James Halliday.

Bernhard Huber took over his family's winery and began estate bottling in 1987. Prior to this his father, like most in the region, had simply sold grapes to the local co-operative. With judicious purchases over the ensuing years, Bernhard added to the estate so that it now covers 25ha, of which Pinot accounts for about 70%. The balance is made up of Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Auxerrois (white).

The estate is located in Malterdingen, a small town in the foothills of the Black Forest mountains, close to the French border, in the very southwest of Germany. This area is part of Baden, Germany's warmest and most southern wine region. Baden is the only region in Germany where red varieties are in the majority.

Records show that Pinot was grown in, and named after Malterdingen as far back as 1285. Despite the impressive lineage and climate suitability, I’m guessing it wasn’t made to any sort of standard. Bernhard wanted to change this and wisely started by becoming friends with a few Burgundian winemakers, most notably Jacques Seyses of the Domaine Dujac (a top estate) who gave him a few pointers. Bernhard also acquired 10-15 Pinot clones from Jean-Luc Pascal in Puling Montrachet, adding them to the 15 German clones already planted in his vineyards.

Despite the French overtones, Huber is not trying to make an imitation of Burgundian Pinot. Like all great winemakers his wines reflect the sites from which they originate. Huber makes several Pinots, with his top wines regularly considered and rated amongst the finest in Germany.

“Huber’s reds came to be recognised as among Germany's best.” Decanter Magazine.

Tragically Bernhard died in June 2014, aged just 55, after a long battle with cancer. His talented son Julian took over winemaking and is proving a worthy successor.

"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.

"A fresh, still quite closed cherry fruit emerges from the glass. On the palate, the wine shows a very high concentration and a penetrating, almost electrifying tactile minerality. The wine shows great ageing potential in its closed but incredibly dense style."
94 points, Falstaff, Nov 2022.

Specifications