I want to return to a topic with this Sunday Read that many outside of Germany, and admittedly even within Germany, usually stare at me blankly or with an amused look on their faces: red wines from Germany. Even more “ridiculous” when you talk about the queen of red grapes, Pinot Noir. But let’s face it: Pinot Noir is at its best in not too hot climates, like Burgundy or Oregon or New Zealand…and Germany. Yes, Germany. I am currently waiting for a shipment of some Pinot Noirs that have been highly praised in Germany (from Guenther Steinmetz) and I am super excited about it. German red wine, and in particular Pinot Noir, has made bounds and leaps ahead and what winemakers have produced is exciting.
So thinks Stuart Pigott, an English transplant into Germany, who has been one of the big storytellers for Riesling and German wine in general, with books like “Wine Speaks German” and tastings, and reviews, and columns in major newspapers. For Wine-Searcher, he wrote a piece on German Pinot Noir.
Give it a try, if you can. Happy Sunday!
the winegetter 
Howdy! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone 4! Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts! Keep up the outstanding work!
On your advice i picked up a Salwey Pinot Noir from Germany. Very surprised at it’s subtle flavour and great acidity. Great food wine but nothing like the over-blown pinots that seem to be the rage. I preferred this.
Oh WOW, thanks so much!! That is awesome! To me, a good pinot noir has this restraint to it, which a lot of the New World Pinot Noirs seem not to embrace…so, I am really glad it worked out for you! Awesome. Will research your wine right now.
i though pinot noir is only from New Zealand…..
I still have not had a Pinot Noir from New Zealand, but am looking forward to it!
I’ll be waiting to hear how those German Pinot Noir’s are. I’ve tried a couple German red wines, neither of which I liked.
Yeah, a lot of it is not that convincing, but they’re coming!! :)
Can’t wait to read about these new Pinots when you get them! Keep us posted!
Will do!
Hi Oliver! Funny that we boh posted about Pinot Noirs (although from different geographies) almost at the same time :-)
I am definitely looking forward to your reviews of these German PN’s! Just so I know, can they be found in the US or do you have to import them from Germany?
Take care!
These ones, as you properly imagined, are coming on a private route via Germany. There might be wine stores in NYC that carry some, because it has definitely been all the rage lately. I could imagine Crush and the like to carry some good ones.
And yes, it made me smile, too when I saw your Pinot Noir tasting notes. That was a great post, by the way…
Thanks, Oliver! I will await your post and recommendations and then see if I can get some from one of the stores I generally resort to. Looking forward to it! :-)
So far I have not been impressed by German red wines… If you can recommend me one then I might give it a try though.
I have had some good ones, but it was definitely never a priority for me while in Germany. I remember good reds from Deutzerhof (I think) in the Ahr valley. I like Gunderloch’s red wine. One just has to take them as they are and not compare to Italian or Spanish reds. I think the comparison with Burgundy does make sense though, but it will take a while to catch up in technique and the like. I am waiting for reds from Guenther Steinmetz, which are supposed to be really really good. Will let you know what I think.
I know that many “wine snobs” look down at Pinot Noirs, but I honestly love them. It was the first red I found palatable years ago, when I thought I only liked sweet wines. I will have to put a Germain Pinot Noir on my list of wines to try!
Interesting. In my experience, many people actually look up to Pinot Noir and down to Cabernet Sauvignon and other more, let’s say robust grapes…I love Pinot Noir’s more delicate flavor.
How do you find all these cool reads? Do you browse and discover, or google search or what? Hey, I get to be the first to comment! That’s newsworthy, I’m never the first to do or find or read anything at all… How did this happen? Is everybody else slacking?
Hahaha. Yeah, sometimes I wonder whether I spend too much time on social media…whatever I post here is pretty much stuff that pops on my Twitter or Facebook feeds or that other bloggers mentioned. By now, I have a significant backlog…
And yes, I agree with you. I believe everyone else is slacking today. But then on the other hand, they might just be so speechless that anyone would push German red wine that they decided not to say something to stay polite…
German Pinot Noir makes sense to me–I’m looking forward to trying it (if I can find it).
Does that mean you can drink wine again, Tracy?? That would be the best news of the day.
I totally eliminated all wine (all alcohol) from my diet for 6 weeks, to absolutely no effect (no change in my symptoms). So, wine is not the culprit. Yes, I had a glass of wine last night, and it was lovely news.
Oh, I am so excited for you!! And I will drink to that tonight. :) I still hope you will be able to find what is causing the symptoms soon.