Two Bottles Greiner
We drink a bottle of Chasselas 2020 and a bottle of Pinot Noir 2018 from the winery Greiner from Baden.
Landwein, made with love is written on the label. And if it’s on the label, then it must be true. Weingut Greiner makes wines in Baden and today we are tasting a Chasselas, typical for Baden, from 2020, which is also known as Gutedel, and a Spätburgunder from 2018. It was only in 2017 that the first vintage was launched under its own label and bottled by the winery itself and after the sudden death of his father in 2018, Maximilian Greiner is the main person in charge. The vineyards are farmed biodynamically and are located in the south of Baden in the Markgräflerland region southwest of Freiburg. Chasselas is the entry into the range at Greiner. The grapes grow in the Obereggener Sonnenstück at an altitude of about 400 meters. They are harvested by hand and then fermented spontaneously with a tenth of whole grapes in a large Stückfass barrel. There the wine remains on the lees and grapes until it is bottled. It is completely fermented with less than one gram of residual sugar and at the same time pleasantly light with only 11.5% alcohol. The grapes for the Pinot Noir come from the Mauchener Sonnenstück. Much sun (Sonne) here also in the vineyard names, but we are in South Baden after all. The grapes are destemmed and cold macerated. After spontaneous fermentation, the wine is allowed to sit in used barrique for another two years before being bottled.
The Chasselas smells of pome fruit, especially apple is there. It is fresh and still a bit green on the nose. On the tongue, there is a mix of light creaminess and a fair amount of structure. There’s clearly more power than the nose would have suggested. And at the very end on the tongue, it says goodbye with a touch of bitterness. It drinks very well. And even an evening later, the wine holds this shape. Not much changes, but I didn’t expect that at all. Easy-drinking without boredom.
The Pinot Noir smells like a lot of cherry. Berries come in, some coconut, wood, smoke and a bit of licorice. Again, there is more structure in the mouth than the nose announced. The tannin still packs a punch, but its not unpleasant. It’s actually quite cool that way. Then comes freshness, lots of cherry and some lilac. While the fruit on the nose recedes a bit with more air and the wood becomes more apparent, the wine gets juicier and juicier in the mouth.
On the second evening, the cherry is back in full force. I like the fruit a lot. In the mouth it has become a bit softer, almost velvety now. Together with the chasselas, this is definitely a successful entry into the collection and makes me want to try the wines further up the shelf.