(2023) Lovely pale and semi-transparent colour to this organic-certified wine. Delightfully fragrant nose, a meadow full of delicate spring flowers and elegant cherry fruit underpinned by a little exotic spice. The oak is of good, fragrant, rather than over-powering quality. In the mouth that very caressing and gentle picture continues, the fruit crisp and in the red fruit spectrum, the tannins mellow but present, and the acid clearly defining the long finish where once again oak supports but does not dominate.
(2021) A Pinot Blanc from the Baden region, where the variety is known as the Weisser Burgunder, there's a photo of the winemaker on the bottle which is something we don't always get from Lidl whose wines are often presented rather anonymously. The back label also rates it as a '1', the driest of their five-step sweetness scale, and yet I detect a fair bit of residual sugar here. Other than that it is a fairly vivacious style for a Pinot Blanc, crunchy apple and pear, but quite a sparky, sherbetty liveliness to it too. Might work with spicy Szechuan or Thai cuisine.
(2021) From the southern part of Baden, a warm, southerly area this is essentialy the entry level of Martin Wassmer's three Spätburgunders (Pinot Noir), which buyer Marcel Orford Williams says is his prefered cuvée. There is a really lovely cherry and floral-edged perfume here, pot-pourri spices to the fore, a touch of something herbal or mineral way in the background. In the mouth the fruit is sweet, but there's a firm, slightly beetrooty earthiness, a touch of dry, hessian character that I presume comes from inclusion of stems in the ferment, and makes it savoury while slightly blunting the initial fruit sweetness. With a nicely grown-up touch sourness to the acidity to play against the sweet fruit, It feels like a very authentic Pinot this.
(2020) First of all, decoding the label: the wine comes from a producer called Burg Ravensburg, in the ancient district of Ravensburg in the Baden region, and the grape is Spätburgunder, a.k.a Pinot Noir. Germany is producing some fine Pinot, and the more southerly region of Baden is one of its centres. I have to say, quite a superior wine this: organically certified, screw-capped and authentically Pinot from its moderately pale ruby colour and nose of flowers, herbs and red fruits, a hint of briarwood, and the palate brimming with sweet cherry and raspberry. Some ageing in barrels rounds the finish, nicely grippy with a touch of tannin and good, tart, mouth-watering acidity giving length.
(2020) From Haidle's organic-certified vineyards in Würrtemberg, close to Stuttgart, this Riesling is only just - just - off-dry with 4.5g/l residual sugar, but it's relatively modest 6g/l of total acidity means it is a Riesling on the rounder, softer end of the spectrum, fruit-forward and juicy. Karl Haidle is a member of the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP) group, an invitation-only organisation of producers focused on quality. Aromas are delightful, sherbetty and limey, a little bit of wet river stones and salts, a punch of green apple. In the mouth some lees-ageing gives weight to the palate, the apple fruit and acidity are plentiful in terms of balance, giving this a dry, mineral finish. Savage Vines Subscribers' price: £10.49
