Three Bottles Peter Wagner
We drink a Müller Thurgau Vom Löss 2021, a Pinot Gris Oberrotweil 2019 and a Pinot Noir Alte Reben 2019 from the Peter Wagner winery to conclude the small Baden series.
We end our small series with Baden wines at the Kaiserstuhl. Of course, you can now complain that with two times very far south and two times near the Kaiserstuhl, Baden was insufficiently covered and you would be right, but on the one hand, the wines were and are completely different despite the geographical accumulations and on the other hand, this is anyway not the last time that wine from my second favorite growing region of Baden-Württemberg is in focus. SO, no reason to complain, especially not because of the wines. This time they come from the winery Peter Wagner from Vogtsburg. As is often the case in the region, the family’s grapes were delivered to the cooperative in the past. It was only with the 2017 vintage that Peter Wagner began to make and market the wines himself. After training as a cooper, studying in Geisenheim, and later gaining five years of experience as a cellar master in Franz Keller’s cellar, this was the logical next step. Also a next step is the conversion to organic farming and the certification to do so. The focus in the winery is on Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnnay with a bit of Müller-Thurgau. Out of tradition. And in keeping with this, we drink our way across the grape varieties and taste a Müller-Thurgau 2021 Vom Löss, a Pinot Gris Ortswein Oberrotweil 2019 and a Pinot Noir Alte Reben 2019.
We start with the Müller. It’s cool, citrusy and with a bit of peach on the nose. On the tongue comes a good amount of draw, lots of cool freshness as well, and a very smooth texture after that. This is super tight and of course not highly complex. Uncomplicated saufwein in a way and worth a try even as a Müller-Thurgau skeptic.
It stays exactly that way a day later. The wine is easygoing and quick to drink. I like the fine texture and the citrus fruit, which now goes in the direction of tangerine or orange. One can understand why the winery holds on to the grape variety. Good reputation or not. Müller-Thurgau like this is fun to drink.
As expected, the Pinot Gris Oberrotweil is much creamier on the nose. There is a bit of yellow, rather discreet fruit and a bit of pastry. It just has a very different effect on the tongue. The acidity feels more mature in the fruit, less tight, but with more melt and a slight ripeness, which is of course due to the extra time on the bottle and fits super into the wine. Nevertheless, the wine also has freshness and drinks well. It may seem almost bulky and demanding at first compared to the Müller-Thurgau, but it is also much more exciting with power and texture at the same time.
On the second evening, there is more butter in the wine, more wood and something reminiscent of citrus, but could just as easily be Szechuan pepper. The creaminess with the very ripe acidity, which is more gently in the background than imposing, coupled with a little bit of vanilla is really strong now and certainly good for a few more years in the cellar.
The Pinot Noir smells of cherry, wood and some spice. However, it then has more structure and power when drinking than I would have expected after the nose. There’s also the cherry, of course, and a bit of bulkiness and scratchiness out back, but they don’t really interfere. It all seems cool as well and has a lot of freshness. Something that runs through the range so far.
And a lot is also happening overnight with the Pinot Noir. Anyway, it shows again and again that only one evening is too little to do a wine justice and that tasting with one or even two days in the opened bottle again makes a real difference. Here forest floor comes into the wine and some sandalwood. The initial scratchiness is completely gone and the super juicy fruit with fresh cherries and dark berries is really nice. You also get the feeling with the wine here that it’s at the very beginning and you’d love to forget a bottle of it and find it again after a few years. Or just put it in the corner for a few years planned. No matter how, this should still increase significantly in pleasure in any case. Or you drink it now and are as happy as I am.