Two German wines, one Californian, but seven French wines. My personal review of the 2024 wine year is actually not very diverse. This is perhaps also due to the fact that I have written elsewhere about wines from other regions that actually belong in this article (such as the great Cepparello 2021 or Ygay Blanco 1986). Some of the wines that were tasted as side acts of the Paterico presentation and the vertical tastings of Champagne Salon and the 2008 Champagne vintage were also spectacular (more on my Instagram channel). But here the impression was ultimately too superficial. And then there are my personal preferences, which I would describe as neo-classical. And in this segment, France is simply strong as a bear at the moment.
1 Champagne: Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2013
There is currently little news from Champagne Taittinger’s standard range. While one Grande Marque after another is conjuring up a new cuvée, everything remains the same at Taittinger. Nevertheless, the house is one of the hottest producers on the secondary market. This is, of course, due to the spectacular quality of its Prestige Cuvée Comtes de Champagne. 2008 was a vintage to die for and 2013 is hardly inferior.
This bottle was not served at the big champagne tasting at KaDeWe, but as a prelude to the “Treasures of Burgundy”. Afterwards, I had to interrupt the event to deliver an unplanned eulogy to this outstanding Blanc de Blancs. Coming from the late-ripening 2013 vintage, it combines complex autolytic aromas with notes of yellow fruit. Multi-layered, crystal clear and with a powerful arc of acidity (97p.). For every bottle you open this year, you should put one in the cellar.
2 Rosé-Champagne: Roederer Cristal Rosé Vinothèque 2002 (Magnum)
Champagne Louis Roederer celebrated 50 years of Cristal Rosé this year, and fortunately I was invited to the German birthday party in Munich in November. In a report for Meininger’s Sommelier, I explained the extent to which the Maison from Reims regards this version of its legendary prestige cuvée as a “laboratory of excellence” (click here for the article). I myself consider Cristal Rosé to be quite simply the best rosé champagne of all. But there is an improvement to everything. In the case of Cristal, this means: firstly as a very long-stored Vinothèque edition and then in the magnum. The 1995 Cristal Rosé Vinothèque in the magnum was the only champagne I have ever awarded 100 points. Now 2002, about which Chef de cave Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, host in Munich together with owner Frédéric Rouzaud, has just written: “The most perfect champagne I ever tasted. Depth, complexity, charisma, goosebumps. 105p”. Nothing to add to that. (100p.).
3 Dry German white wine: Von Winning KO Chardonnay 2021
This year, there is no dry German Riesling in the top 10, but a Chardonnay, which was also a surprise for me. In my opinion, you can count real top German Chardonnays on the fingers of one hand. The KO from the Von Winning winery in the Palatinate (formerly Dr. Deinhard) had not been on my radar before – especially as the wine was not included in the relevant tastings. Managing director Stephan Attmann now presented the wine on the occasion of the Burgundy Festival at the Überfahrt restaurant on Lake Tegernsee. I have to admit that, despite numerous impressive German Pinot Noirs, this wine impressed me the most. In the past, Attmann has perhaps “pushed the envelope” a little too much with some of his high-end cuvées. With his top Chardonnay from the Kalkofen (KO) vineyard, where the vines are densely planted with 12,000 vines per hectare on red sandstone and tertiary limestone, everything is in balance. Very juicy, complex, with great length and precise acidity (95p.).
4 White Burgundy I: Daniel-Etienne Defaix Chablis Grand Cru Les Grenouilles 2012
The fact that great white wines can come from Chablis is undisputed. However, climate change and the associated higher pH value of the wines pose great challenges for their inimitable style. Especially when, as is usual with many Grand Crus, a considerable proportion of new wood is used. However, Daniel-Etienne Defaix does things differently from his colleagues. His wines come from vineyards with some very old vines – those in the Grenouilles Grand Cru vineyard were planted in 1960. He presses very gently, ferments cool and slowly with natural yeasts and ages the wines for a very long time in tanks. The wines are also released later and later. At the moment, 2013 is the current vintage for the Premier Crus and 2012 for the Grand Crus. The Grenouilles 2012 has a captivating sensuality – and at the same time a complexity that you want to explore for hours. One of the most remarkable experiences of 2024 (96p.). Unfortunately difficult to find on the market.
5 White Burgundy II: Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Grand Cru Corton-Charlemagne 2008
The large trading houses gave Burgundy a golden age in the 19th century. After the emancipation of winegrowers in the 1920s and 1950s, they had a difficult time in the world of fine wine. It was often overlooked that many maisons also ran their own domains alongside the négociant business. Due to their tradition, they were often home to the best vineyards of all. At Bouchard, this includes 3.25 hectares in the north-east sector of Corton-Charlemagne, where, as Norman Remington writes, “the chalky soil gives the wines real bite and length”. 2008 was a great, if underrated, year in Burgundy. And because “Bougogne Aujourdhui” rated Bouchard’s Charlemagne at 19.5 p., I had an idea of what was to come. Less fragrant and elegant than a Puligny, but youthfully mineral and with archaic power (96p.). Stronger than all three Charlemagne from Bonneau du Martray tasted in 2024. No wonder Bouchard was recently taken over by the Artémis group, which also owns Château Latour.
6 Red Burgundy: Domaine G. Roumier Grand Cru Bonnes-Mares 2018
Burgundian Grand Crus from popular producers have almost disappeared from the German market for some time now and hardly ever appear at tastings. No wonder, when the “smallest” wine from Roumier, a Chambolle-Musigny Villages from 2016, currently costs 356 euros from the local importer. I was therefore all the happier that KaDeWe opened a bottle of Bonnes-Mares 2018 at this year’s “Treasures of Burgundy” event, which I had the pleasure of hosting.
Christophe Roumier, who has managed the winery since 1982, owns just 0.39 hectares in this top location. But the vines are located in two very different plots, one on so-called “terre rouge” and one on lighter soil. Both are vinified separately and then blended. For Burgundy pope Remingtion Norman, such a blend is “the ideal” of Bonnes Mares. The hot 2018 vintage definitely did not harm the wine. It presents itself with the classic muscular firmness of this Grand Cru, with a deep red in the glass and more black than red fruit on the nose. And then there is a dark, almost abysmal characteristic, a mystery that only great wines can exhibit and only time will solve (97p.).
7 California red: Joseph Phelps Vineyards Insignia 2019
Despite several trips to California, I have never made it to Joseph Phelps Vineyards. Founded in 1972 by the pioneer of the same name, the winery has belonged to LVMH since 2022. In 1974, it created one of the first Bordeaux blends in Napa, the Insignia, which is now an icon of Californian viticulture. After the death of the founder, his son Bill initially took over the management. Since 2023, David Pearson, CEO of Opus One Winery between 2004 and 2020, has been Executive Chairman of Joseph Phelps. On his first visit to Germany, you immediately realize why LVMH chose him: witty, unorthodox and visionary – not least when it comes to vineyard management. In Berlin, he presented five vintages of Insignia. All great wines, with the just bottled 2021 impressing with its powerful, deep core. The 2016 certainly stood out with its captivating, multi-faceted bouquet. It seduces the palate with its velvety elegance. Currently in a first plateau phase (97p.).
8 Bordeaux red (right bank): Le Pin 2015
A spring evening on the Rhine promenade in Bingen, my eyes wander towards the Rüdesheimer Berg. And in front of me is an open bottle of Château Le Pin 2015 … Even for a wine journalist, not every day ends like this. But that evening, my host was an ex-critic about whom I had just written a long portrait. At the time, he was one of the first to recommend this Pomerol winery in Germany, which had only been founded in 1979 and produced just 600 cases. The recommendation was based on a sound prognosis. Today, Le Pin is an icon and collectors all over the world are fighting over one of the rare bottles.
No wonder this was my first encounter with the wine. And I was surprised at how structured the wine was for all its opulence. Despite being half a bottle, the 2015 showed only minimal ageing. Accordingly, the bouquet was still dominated by wood, with simultaneous blackberry and plum notes and various complex spice aromas. The palate is “papered” by the wine, as it were, and the masses of fine tannin make the complex structure more apparent than perceptible at first. A long-distance runner from a great year for Pomerol (98p).
9 Bordeaux red (left bank): Château Haut Brion 1975
There are few things more seductive than the scent of a well-aged great Bordeaux! This 1975 Haut Brion was perfectly aged, with a pronounced graphite note and a certain sweetness of black fruits, tobacco and undergrowth. It is still quite dense on the palate, if a little drying (95-96p.). Unfortunately, we had suffered a serious disappointment at the beginning of the year with a suspected fake (bought at auction from a German auction house!). Hard tannins, one-dimensional … nowhere near the level of a mature Haut-Brion. The curious cork in particular pointed to a fake. Fresh on the outside, as if it had just been corked, it disintegrated into countless crumbs when opened. In fact, the 1975 Haut Brion (then still without a hyphen) has always been controversial. Robert Parker, for example, confessed that he had initially misjudged the wine. Neal Martin, who today rates it as the best Haut Brion of the decade, felt similarly.
10 German Riesling noble sweet: Weingut J. Riedel Hallgartener Jungfer Beerenauslese 1976
There are many reasons to be happy that German wines have returned to their former greatness. At the same time, however, it is disturbing how much we have forgotten the past. Because there have always been partisans of quality, even if they were few in German viticulture and hardly noticed. But they produced wines with a style that has disappeared today. Today, the Riedel winery in Hallgarten is only remembered in the writings of the American critics David Schildknecht and Terry Theise. At the time, Christine Riedel was regarded as “the best cellar master in the Rheingau”. However, the mostly fully dry fermented wines were never presented at trade fairs or tastings …
The 1976 Beerenauslese from their flagship vineyard Hallgartener Jungfer was already mahogany-colored, like many wines from the hot year. But the still dense sweetness is underpinned by a vital acidity and complex minerality, as is typical for the cool Hallgarten (96p.). A 1971 Beerenauslese from the Oestricher Lenchen from the Fritz Rothenbach winery tasted next to it was much leaner, but also considerably less powerful (92p.). I was able to buy both wines at auction on the internet for pocket money. I was the only bidder.
Postscriptum
I met the 80-year-old Christine Riedel in 1996. Impressed by the visit, I subsequently wrote my first (unpublished) text about the winery. I have made it available here on the occasion of this review.
Importer and author Terry Theise has also written about them. When her son Wolfgang ended production, he wrote: “I mourned another loss in a vanishing world, story upon story, flame upon flame snuffed out. My tribute is paltry against the passionate dignity of these lives.” His portraits, in which a whole lost world of German winegrowing history shines through, can be found here and in his 2011 book “Reading between the wines”.
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Stefan Pegatzky / Time Tunnel Images
