Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir) has over a 1000 years of history in Germany, but it’s only this last two decades that we have witnessed the emergence of superstars. Furst, Enderle & Moll, Huber, Rings, even Weingut Keller produce Pinot Noir in tiny quantities of astonishing quality. And great value too.
Generic Bourgogne can easily retail for $150 and then some. Since when does a picnic wine cost $150? I feel wine lovers are being taken advantage of. Luckily, there are awesome alternatives from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Germany. Enter stage left, Adams Wein.
Vibrancy and charge
Ingelheim is ground zero for Adams Wein, part of the broader Rheinhessen region. Pinot Noir has been here for 1100 years, the limestone soils and Continental climate recognised as a perfect location for the Burgundian varieties of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. I have sometimes wondered if our love affair with Limestone soils is justified, but it would be hard to argue against, having tasted the sheer vibrancy and charge of the Adams Wein wines. Here, as in all of Germany, exposure is everything. Ideally south facing and like Burgundy, the best plots are usually found mid slope, where clay/loam and limestone balance.
Superb sites
Adams Wein has a spread of great vineyards, Lohpfad, Horn, Auf dem Haun, Heerweg and Pares, quite possibly the greatest Pinot Noir vineyard outside Burgundy, rivalling the Grand Crus of Vosne Romanee. 10 hectares of vines is a lot, particularly when the vines are biodynamically cultivated and the work all manual labour. Size does enable the estate to produce glorious village wines offering remarkable value for money as well as their world class single site wines.
Au Naturel
The winemaking is natural. Absolutely no additions, no fining and no filtration, with SO2 added only at bottling. Natural ferments, and with the reds, whole clusters and ageing in 228Lt used French oak. The whites will see a small amount of maceration time, gaining weight, texture and flavour and will see a degree of ageing in wood and stainless steel, depending on the wine, on lees for the entire maturation period.
Thrill ride
Power, concentration, tightly coiled, sinuous textures, breadth and a sense of immensity. These wines are supremely elegant, defined utterly by their limestone laden soils. There is a tension to the wines. Fruit, structure, texture, and tertiary notes of earth, spice, smoke and leather all woven tightly together and the effect is breathtaking. The Germans have a word, out of use nowadays, “zappeln”, denoting a sort of energy or fluttering and it’s apt here. There is so much vigour and vivacity to these wines, so many levels of flavour and dimension, movement and mystery. I’m smiling as I’m writing this, so thrilling they are.
Adams Wein Weissburgunder 2022
If you wanted to know why pinot blanc is one of the permitted varieties of Champagne and Burgundy, you need to try this wine. You can taste and feel the similarities it has with chardonnay and aligoté. Concentrated, coiled and tight, with size, curve and generosity. The flavours are incredibly complex with some high toned fruit and deeper, darker and more exotic fruit. Citrus blossom, yellow peach, lime, grapefruit, melon, white cherry and fresh compost. Vibrant; huge energy and drive, with sinew and flesh, minerals and textural brawn. A deep, profound wine, what a beginning to a tasting!
Adams Wein Ingelheim Spatburgunder 2021
The ‘entry’ level Spatburgunder is so, so good! Aromatic and very pretty, with violets, sweet red summer fruit compote, sandalwood, blackcurrant and sweet Middle Eastern spices. Cool and controlled palate, with tertiary notes of fresh compost, smoke and coal dust. Everything is intense, there’s no softness here, and it’s easy to pick out the delineated flavours. Such detail, the palate picks up pace and energy towards the close, it doesn’t fade, but gets stronger. And this is the signature of Adams Wein. The power on the backend, and the red is accented by a lovely zesty redcurrant and cranberry, mineral laden tang. What a wine! So much character at such a price is unbelievable.
Adams Wein Heerweg Spatburgunder 2021
Heerweg is located just below Auf dem Haun, directly opposite Adams Wein’s chardonnay planted vineyard Lohpfad. Sitting at the lower part of the slope, the soil is on a base of limestone, but with more topsoil, producing a richer, broader, denser pinot noir, compared to Auf dem Haun or Horn. But this must be viewed in context. This is still a wine of coil, vivacity and vigour. Exotic and very sexy with cumin, blackberry, blackcurrant, fenugreek, violets, rhubarb and spiced plum. Tighter and more focused than you would be led to believe by the aromatics. Very deep core of fruit, a certain breadth, with long and refined tannins. 100% whole clusters and aged in 228Lt barrique. This is astonishing as there are absolutely no wood notes and the wine is in no way bunchy. An incredible harmonisation of synergies.
Adams Wein Auf dem Haun Spatburgunder 2021
Located mid slope and west facing. This is a cool site, with just a thin layer of silt covering the limestone. For me, the Auf dem Haun is emblematic of the Adams Wein style. Cool, coiled tight, savoury and with mouthwatering acidity. Incredibly complex, with flint, fresh compost, rose petals, geranium, blackcurrant, blackberry, mulberry, blueberry and mint. Extremely powerful and mineral, with the sort of energy and life force that has to be tasted to be believed. And let’s not forget the charged redcurrant, cranberry and minerals on the close, as if refusing to let you go.
Adams Wein Horn Spatburgunder 2021 Grosse Lage
A tiny west facing vineyard considered a Grosse Lage, or Grand Cru by the VDP. Adams Wein’s parcel is located in the upper third of the vineyard. Cool and windy with very sparse, silty soils over a bedrock of limestone. There is quite simply no pinot noir like it. Exotic, profound, ravishing and utterly beautiful. Fenugreek, sarsaparilla, pink peppercorn, mulberry and sweet and savoury Middle Eastern spices. High toned, smokey, earthy and mind-bogglingly deep and savoury. 100% whole cluster and aged in 228 Lt barrique, of which there are only 2. Tight and coiled with terrific intensity and drive, bursting with tangy redcurrant and cranberry on the mineral tightening close. A wine with a huge future.
Adams Wein Pares Spatburgunder 2021 Grosse Lage
Considered the greatest pinot noir vineyard in the Rheinhessen. In the range of Adams Wein, the Pares is unique stylistically, very different from the other Spatburgunders and a wine of breathtaking complexity and singularity. One of the world’s great pinot noirs, to rival the very best from Burgundy. Pares is a large Grand Cru, 9 hectares, and Adams Wein’s portion had been left for over thirty years, a small forest had begun to take root. Planted only to German clones, 100% whole cluster and barrique aged. Savoury and sweet aromas of dark fruits, mint, dark chocolate, dark cherry and raspberry. Broad, brooding and very deep; an abyss of pinot pleasure. Tarry, woody, wet forest, coal dust, morello cherry, dark cherry, blackberry, gooseberry, iodine, polished leather and rose verbena. In amongst such bountiful abundance, tingly, zappy, mineralised red fruits, that are so powerful you don’t notice the lick of stroking tannins. Unbelievable.
