Rheingau

4 Pinot Noir. 2024, unless otherwise noted

With only four wines presented, any broader conclusion about the region would be misleading. August Kesseler’s Höllenberg and Berg Schlossberg, along with the 2023 Höllenberg from Krone Assmannshausen, were certainly convincing in terms of quality. Stylistically, however, they were so far removed from what I consider pleasurable drinking that I do not wish to discuss them in greater detail here.

In short: plenty of forest floor, some overripe cherry fruit and a style I think of as “old-school German taste”. Anyone looking for precisely that will find it here.

Rheinhessen

9 Pinot Noirs, all from 2024

For its Grosses Gewächs wines, VDP.Rheinhessen currently concentrates on Riesling and Pinot Noir. That is a sensible decision. While the association’s 19 member estates have long ranked among Germany’s finest producers of dry Riesling, there is still some ground to cover with Pinot Noir. This deliberate focus on just two grape varieties therefore suits the regional association well.

Gutzler remains the leading estate for Rheinhessen Pinot Noir in my view. Morstein and Höllenbrand are precise and finely etched, with the fleshy, slightly bloody character typical of Gutzler. In 2024, the Morstein finishes ahead of the Brunnenhäuschen. The tannin is more delicate, the wine deeper, with a firmer core and a longer finish.

With Hommage à Felix Peters from Zellerweg am Schwarzen Herrgott, Oliver Spanier has produced an impressive Pinot Noir debut in the Zellertal. Darker, denser and more serious than the Kirchenstück, with a firm core, present tannin, plenty of juice and an immensely elegant, persistent finish. A fitting tribute to Felix Peters, who died far too young. Since the stylistic realignment that began with the 2019 vintage, the red wines from the Roter Hang and the vineyards around Hohen-Sülzen have steadily gained in finesse and clarity. An estate previously known above all for its rock-driven Rieslings is increasingly becoming a genuine insider tip for Pinot Noir.

Palatinate

21 Pinot Noir. 2024, unless otherwise noted

This year, the Pfalz produced a number of highly drinkable, structured and refreshingly distinctive Pinot Noirs. For me, Rings once again presented the best collection. In recent years, I have almost preferred the Rings brothers’ Pinot Noirs to their Rieslings. That does not diminish the Rieslings in any way; it simply shows the level the reds have now reached. Year after year, they gain in definition and precision. The question is gradually becoming: how much better can they get? Felsenberg and Saumagen open dark, juicy and savoury, with a fleshy spice. On the palate, they show immense freshness, crystal-clear fruit and the finest tannin. Light-footed, powerful and long. Impressive.

Some way behind, the Christmann wines followed once again. The stylistic shift towards greater finesse and transparency has been clear for several years now. Unlike the 2023s, the 2024s have the density and ripeness I look for in Pinot Noir GGs at the highest level. The Idig finished just ahead of the new Pinot flagship, Schild. The Idig is surprisingly warm and ripe on the nose, tightly woven and fleshy, with fine strawberry fruit. The palate is considerably cooler: crystal-clear fruit, precise tannin, great elegance and an immensely appetising finish. It becomes a little rougher with air, but on the palate it is a force.

Philipp Kuhn’s Kirschgarten surprised with intense red-cherry fruit, a finely structured texture and a juicy finish. Once again, Philipp Kuhn demonstrates how confidently he handles both white and red varieties.

Jülg’s Sonnenberg KT also impressed, albeit at a slightly lower level than in the consistently strong previous vintages. The KB deserves a mention as well. Intense and brilliant on the nose: precise Piedmontese cherry fruit, liquorice and a hint of Christmas baking. Dense and powerful on the palate, with a firm core, beautifully fine tannin and clear, noble fruit. A long, delicately juicy finish. It may not quite possess the brilliance of the 2023, but it remains at a very high level.

Among the more mature Pinot Noirs, Rebholz was the clear leader with the 2021 Im Sonnenschein. Surprisingly warm on the nose for the vintage, then firmer and fresher with air. Cassis and a touch of woodland. Soft tannin on the palate, well-integrated acidity and mellow red fruit. Good balance, length and depth. Not my personal style, but noteworthy in terms of quality.

Baden

16 Pinot Noir. 2024, unless otherwise noted

A remarkable shift has been underway at the Kaiserstuhl for several years. With the 2024 vintage, at the latest, it has become impossible to miss. Attentive wine lovers will hardly have failed to notice that Friedrich Keller’s wines are becoming more precise, refined and brilliant with each passing year. For me, however, the evolution at Dr. Heger is at least as significant. Since 2022, the wines have gained noticeably in freshness and finesse. With the 2024 vintage, this development has reached a level that deserves far more than a passing mention.

Even under Joachim Heger, the estate undoubtedly ranked among Baden’s qualitative elite, and the wines’ more powerful style certainly reflected the tastes of its time. Looking back, however, the 2018 and 2019 vintages in particular now feel somewhat out of step to me. Since Rebecca Heger took over the cellar, the estate has undergone a clear stylistic realignment. The oak now feels more subtle, the reduction delicate and seamlessly integrated. The wines have become brighter, clearer and more polished without sacrificing drive or substance.

It is above all the balance of the 2024s that makes this the most compelling collection from Baden in this vintage for me. At the top is the Winklerberg Wanne Pinot Noir, also known as “Häusleboden”. Warmer, spicier and riper than the Winklen “Rappenecker”, with a fine, fleshy accent. Yet the fruit remains cool and precise, the tannin dense, delicate and finely polished. Tightly knit and almost silky in texture, the wine reminds me of Fürst’s Schlossberg. Immensely juicy and powerful, it carries through to a very long finish.

Dr. Heger is therefore an estate to watch very closely once again. The 2024 vintage offers compelling evidence of just how convincingly this new style is already working.

Friedrich Keller’s wines also deserve special mention. In my view, they too often and quite unjustly stand in the shadow of those made by his close friend Julian Huber. A direct comparison was barely possible this year, however, as Julian presented only the Bienenberg GG on its own. More importantly, Keller’s collection was simply too strong to reduce it to that comparison. His 2024 Pinot Noirs are, in the best possible sense, glou-glou wines at the highest level. The Steinriese GG shone with a cool, dark nose, precise cherry fruit, dark spice and fleshy, bloody nuances. Immensely precise on the palate, with the finest tannin, a firm core and a vertical, light-footed structure. Dense and powerful, yet exceptionally fine through to the elegant finish. A quiet giant. For me, however, the Eichberg remains the best buy. Brighter, more radiant and more open than the Steinriese. Less dense and firmly built, but cool, crystal-clear in its fruit and already far more expressive.

A word on Huber’s 2024s. As quantities were once again extremely small, Julian presented only his Bienenberg Pinot Noir in Wiesbaden. With the exception of Malterdinger Rot, however, all of the red wines were bottled. There will be no single-vineyard white wines from this vintage. Anyone interested in reading more about my impressions of Julian’s 2024s can find them in my report on my visit to the estate last spring. A note for context: at the time, the decision not to bottle the single-vineyard white wines had not yet been made.

In Wiesbaden, Baden emerged as the strongest Pinot Noir region, both in depth and at the top. The winemakers around the Kaiserstuhl in particular now know exactly how to make good Pinot.

Württemberg

10 Pinot Noir. 2024, unless otherwise noted

I had to skip Württemberg this year because I didn’t have enough time.

The 2025 Silvaners formed one of the strongest and most consistent groups of the preview. Many wines combine lively, at times distinctly racy acidity with a firm phenolic framework, cool fruit and a pronounced saline streak. They possess density, but rarely feel heavy. Instead, the vintage is defined by tension, precision and long, often demanding finishes.

Rudolf May was particularly strong. The Himmelspfad is nervy, iodine-inflected and dense, with plenty of drive and a long, saline finish. An outstanding Silvaner for wine geeks. The Rothlauf goes one step further. Darker, spicier and firmer, yet also more balanced, playful and carried by a remarkably noble salinity. Max Müller I’s Ratsherr was equally convincing: quiet and elegant at first, then developing considerable drive, tension and length on the palate. Bürgerspital’s Stein-Harfe combines tautness and power with a finely woven structure.

The three wines from the Escherndorfer Lump, meanwhile, demonstrated just how differently one vineyard can be interpreted. Horst Sauer’s Am Lumpen 1655® has tension, acidity and length, but on the nose it is held back for my taste by candied, unmistakably cool-fermented aromas. Max Müller I is cooler, juicier and more precise by direct comparison; Rainer Sauer’s version is similar at its core, but even more saline.

The clear highlight for me, however, was the Maustal from Zehnthof Luckert. Pale blossoms and white pear flesh meet a delicate, almost weightless structure. The acidity remains lively, the tannin fine, everything flowing together with poise and precision. A Silvaner that dances without losing its inner firmness, fading slowly with a long, juicy and gently herbal finish. This is how Silvaner should be. More of this, please.

Alongside the 2025s, several wines from earlier vintages provided additional context. The 2024 Stettener Stein from Weingut am Stein already shows a little more maturity on the nose, yet remains remarkably cool and serious on the palate. Racy acidity, a firm phenolic framework and plenty of salinity create tension and a long, bracing finish. A powerful yet precisely built Silvaner whose palate feels considerably fresher than the nose initially suggests.

The 2021 Casteller Schlossberg from Fürstlich Castell’sche Domäne, by contrast, is already clearly marked by maturity. Banana, ripe pear and savoury herbal notes shape the intense nose. The palate is denser and firmer than the aromatics might suggest, but in my view the wine has already entered its ideal drinking window. A Silvaner to enjoy now.

The exceptionally small 2024 vintage was correspondingly thinly represented in Wiesbaden. Just eight Chardonnays were shown, and the wine from Salwey came from the 2023 vintage. Seven wines are simply not enough to draw reliable conclusions about either the vintage or regional developments. So this is less an overall verdict and more a closer look at the most interesting wines.

Dr. Heger’s Winklerberg Hinter Winklen “Gras im Ofen” led the way for me. Once again, it displays the very fine, bright and strikingly present oak spice that increasingly seems to be becoming a signature of Heger’s new style for white wines. Initially delicate and quiet, with fine reduction, the wine gains considerably in definition with air. It tightens, developing greater drive, salinity and white pepper before ending long, juicy and precise. A distinctly elegant Chardonnay that reveals its power only gradually.

Franz Keller’s Kirchberg, by contrast, is almost demonstratively restrained. Cool, bright and initially very closed, it feels delicate and fine on the palate, perhaps even a little too subdued. With air, more noble oak emerges; the fruit remains bright and the balance coherent. At present, however, it lacks the final degree of drive and some depth. An elegant wine with considerable finesse, although I find its future development difficult to assess.

Salwey’s 2023 Henkenberg Steingrubenberg offered a powerful counterpoint. Dense, deep and built with real firmness, it already shows slightly more developed fruit, yet fresh acidity and gripping phenolics carry it well. The long, saline finish is still mildly drying, but has substance and clear definition. A Chardonnay that needs time and is likely to knit together far more harmoniously with further bottle age.

Pinot Gris, of all things. It is a grape variety I regularly struggle with. That made it all the more surprising that, as a group, the 2024 Pinot Gris wines in Wiesbaden were my favourite among all the white Burgundian varieties. With only seven wines presented, however, it is impossible to derive a reliable picture of the vintage or say anything meaningful about regional developments. Even so, several wines deserve a closer look.

Franz Keller presented two clearly distinct interpretations. The Bassgeige Kähner is iodine-inflected, bright and almost quiet. Grapefruit, a slender body and slightly pointed acidity give it a remarkably light-footed character. It remains firm at its core and, despite its delicacy, finishes long and finely juicy. The Schlossberg, by contrast, has greater ripeness, density and, above all, significantly more drive. The oak is finely integrated, the acidity fresh and the phenolics gripping. It is already surprisingly open, but its long, firm finish gives it enough substance for several years of bottle age.

For me, the strongest wines came from Dr. Heger. The Schlossberg opens with noticeable but well-integrated new oak and fine reduction. On the palate, it is fresh, compact and resolutely bright in character. White-fleshed fruit, lively acidity and ripe, firm phenolics interlock with precision. The long, gently creamy finish is more reminiscent of a slightly mature Chardonnay than a classic Pinot Gris. A wine that still needs time.

The Vordere Winklerberg was even more convincing. Similar in its use of oak, it feels a little more precise, juicier and more finely balanced. It drives across the palate with remarkable force, yet remains bright, fresh and elegant. White flowers and white peach accompany the long, delicately juicy finish. This wine, too, escapes my usual idea of Pinot Gris—and perhaps that is precisely why I like it so much. More of this, please.

The finest Pinot Gris wines of the preview impressed less through ripeness, breadth and lavish creaminess than through freshness, bright fruit, firm phenolics and precision. That was probably exactly why this grape, of all varieties, became the positive surprise among the white Burgundian grapes for me.

Pinot Blanc was one of the preview’s most disappointing groups for me. Many wines showed sweet-toned fruit, early accessibility and certainly plenty of juiciness, but lacked drive, depth and clear internal structure beneath the surface. Too often, little remained beyond easy drinking. For Grosses Gewächs wines, I found the group too anonymous overall and insufficiently shaped by origin.

The largest group came from the Pfalz. The 2024s in particular often showed noticeable extract sweetness, open fruit and little drive on the finish. Knipser’s Kirschgarten and Theo Minges’s Rosenkranz were lively, but remained just as superficial as Bassermann-Jordan’s Langenmorgen. Münzberg and Mandelberg Am Speyrer Weg had a little more spice, salinity and firmness, without setting themselves decisively apart. Yet the wines from the Pfalz still failed to present a truly coherent picture. More oak, reduction and ripeness, but rarely the necessary precision. Jülg’s Sonnenberg was a welcome exception with its bright, juicy and finely balanced character, although it lost some definition through the mid-palate.

In Baden, the style was less sweet-toned, but at times considerably riper and more strongly shaped by élevage. Dr. Heger’s Winklerberg Winklen showed apple, apple skin and phenolics that were already beginning to soften, yet its firm structure and good balance kept it coherent. Schlumberger-Bernhart’s Altenberg Weingarten, by contrast, felt overconcentrated and coarse, with fruit, acidity and phenolics failing to come together harmoniously. The two 2023s from Salwey and Staatsweingut Freiburg did little to brighten the overall picture.

Three wines nevertheless stood apart for me. Ökonomierat Rebholz’s Mandelberg was among the most precise Pinot Blancs of the tasting. Iodine-inflected, lightly green and savoury, with considerably more drive than many of its neighbours. Kranz’s Kalmit was even more difficult to assess, but showed considerable potential. Reduction and new oak currently obscure large parts of the wine, yet beneath them lie remarkable compactness, drive and plenty of salinity. A polarising Pinot Blanc whose development should be fascinating to follow.

For me, the strongest representative from Baden was Dr. Heger’s Winklerberg Hinter Winklen. Fine reduction, noble oak and bright, clear fruit shape a delicate, precisely built wine. It has good balance, gentle creaminess and sufficient drive, but places greater emphasis on elegance than power. Even so, a little more inner depth would have served it well.

These three wines showed what might have been possible. Overall, however, Pinot Blanc in Wiesbaden was too often sweet-toned, shapeless and surprisingly vague in structure. At GG level in particular, that was simply not enough.