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Friedrich Becker "Heydenreich" Pinot Noir GG VDP 2020
Red Wine
German dry red from Pfalz
Falstaff 98 points
James Suckling 98 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 94+ points
Vinum 18/20 points
Limited production of less than 2,500 bottles
關於此酒 :
About this wine :
Located south of Weißenburg in Alsace, above the "Sankt Paul" vineyard. At this point, the vineyard extends into the cooling Lauter Valley. The soil is heavy, clayey, and rich in clay and loam, with limestone rocks underneath. From 2003 to 2010, it was called "Tafelwein" Pinot Noir. The first vintage with a vineyard name was released in 2011. The grapes were carefully hand-selected, destemmed, and fermented on the skins. After a three-week fermentation in open oak vats and fermentation vessels with manual punching down of the grape cap, they were gently pressed. The wine was further aged for 18 months in small oak barrels made of German and French oak. During bottling, no filtration or treatment agents were used. A powerful, dense ruby red color. Delightful aromas of black fruits, vanilla, tobacco, forest floor, and chocolate. The wine is intense, dense, elegant, and flattering on the palate, with endless complexity and a full-bodied finish. It has great aging potential.
James Suckling - "You could easily mistake this youthful German pinot noir for a Clos de la Roche Grand Cru from Burgundy! The tantalizing nose of heather and roses with underlying earthy, meaty and smoky nuances pulls you inexorably into this pinot noir masterpiece. Enormous fine tannins and terrific chalky intensity on the tightly-wound palate. The mineral acidity accentuating the power at the incredibly focused finish. Enormous aging potential! Drinkable now, but best from 2026."
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - "The 2020 Pinot Noir Heydenreich VDP.Grosse Lage opens deep, intense, spicy, fleshy and puristic on the nose, showing concentrated black fruit and black tea aromas. This bouquet is open, warm and elegant, almost with classic Rioja furor. Silky, juicy and with vital freshness in the mouth, the Heydenreich is firm and grippy as usual and still pleasantly astringent in the herbal but consistently elegant, fresh and complex finish. It promises great potential. Tasted at the Vorpremiere VDP.Grosses Gewächs in Wiesbaden in August 2023."
Falstaff - "Slightly menthol notes accompanied by ripe cherry with wood savouriness. Full-bodied on the palate with a soft attack and a saline vein of acidity. Immense mid-palate concentration with powerful tannic structure. The wine is demanding, with electrifying chalky minerality. Great ageing potential."
關於 WEINGUT FRIEDRICH BECKER 酒莊 :
德國 FRIEDRICH BECKER 狐狸酒莊位於 Pfalz 酒區，自2000年起成為德國VDP會員 (只有德國最優秀酒莊才能加入的協會)，連續8年獲得 Gault Millau 德國No. 1 Pinot Noir 名銜，各地酒評高度評價，酒評人 Robert Parker 表示「Becker 多年以來已是德國最享負盛名的釀酒商之一」，深受 Burgundy 布艮地愛好者追捧。
About WEINGUT FRIEDRICH BECKER :
For many years now, the Becker estate located in Schweigen, very far south of the Pfalz on the border of Alsace, has been one of the top Pinot Noir producers in Germany. The best Becker Pinot Noirs compare favorably with the best Burgundy has to offer.
In 1973 when Fritz Sr. took over the estate from his father, he stopped selling grapes to the local co-op and started bottling and selling his own wines. He was also one of the first that independently, but in parallel with Dr. Heger, Fürst and Meyer-Näkel, started using barriques for his Pinots. In the beginning he was very frustrated trying to successfully in his words “transferring the gift of nature into fine wine”, as his colleagues in France had been doing for many years.
In 2005 Fritz Jr. took over the winemaking at the estate and his father continued to oversee the outside vineyard work. In 2007, the Beckers started to work with lower must weights more in the range from 92-98 Öchsle rather than previously with 100 Öchsle or more. They learned that physiologically ripe fruit needs acid more than additional sugar.
Almost 70% of their vineyards are located in Alsace. The fruit for their Grosses Gewächs Pinot Noirs comes from two great sites: the Kammerberg, a steep single vineyard near Wissembourg was recovered by Fritz Sr. in 1966. The old vines with mostly German clones and some French grow on deep marl lime soils that produce powerful but also refined, mineral driven Pinot Noirs (it is all about the dirt here!); the other Grand Cru is the St. Paul cultivated in the 14th century by the Cistercians of Wissembourg. The site had since become overgrown but the Beckers uprooted trees and bushes in early 2000 and planted a mix of Pinot clones from Dijon and the German Marienfelder clone. The first vintage was harvested in 2004 and even then the Pinots were very fruit driven (the Dijon clones) but with lots of finesse and refinement.
St. Paul Pinots are released two years and the Kammerberg three years after the vintage. The Beckers also produce a Riesling Grosses Gewächs from the Sonnenberg with “poor” limestone soils that brings a surprisingly light and elegant wine. In addition a series of very good Pinot Blancs (a lot of limestone here!), a superb Gewürztraminer and an interesting red, “Guillaume” (a cuvee of Cabernet, Merlot, Dornfelder and Pinot Meunier).
From the 28 ha the Beckers produce over 12,000 cases annually. Plantings are 60% Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, 22% Riesling, and the remaining 18% includes Silvaner, Gewürztraminer and Muskateller.
