2022 Dalsheimer Burgel Spatburgunder Trocken GG

The 2022 Spätburgunder Dalsheimer Bürgel Grosses Gewächs opens with a slight crackle of smoky reduction, wrapping itself around red berries of tart and highly aromatic allure. The palate dances, going all out with its charm. It flirts with red-fruited exuberance; ripe raspberry, tart mulberry, vivid redcurrant and crunchy cherry all meet. Silky tannins swish, performing with ease, joy and a certain effortlessness. The body is exquisitely light and tender. It’s so vivid and alive yet boasts grounding depth and tingling freshness. This portrays as much ebullience as elegance, with lip-smacking juiciness and utter, fresh-faced purity of fruit. (Bone-dry)

Bürgel is their warmest site. 70% was planted in 1990 and regrafted with mass-selection Burgundy clones and the rest are younger vines planted in 2006, also mass selection. 55% stems. Aged 15–18 months in used oak.  Bottled unfiltered three weeks ago. Light to mid crimson. The most herbal/stemmy of the four Keller 2022 Spätburgunders, with pure lifted red fruit – raspberry tang not strawberry sweetness. Light layer of chalky stone dust lifts this off the ground. Becoming sweeter-fruited in the glass and increasingly fragrant and pretty with air, wild flowers and grasses. Then changing back to the herbal freshness – it seems to change back and forth between its different facets. In the mouth, this is both tightly wound by its freshness and yet scented on the mid palate. So fragrant, even a slight vanilla sweetness though I think this is from the fruit not from the oak. Delicate and persistent at the same time. A light peppery finish. Mouth-wateringly dry with the finest of tannins and yet still juicy – the tannins are so fine I almost forgot to mention them. A tribute to balanced delicacy, the structure well-judged and discreet. (JH)