2013 Morstein Spatburgunder Felix GG (Auction)

Picked with just 11 hectoliters per hectare and fermented with 50% to 60% of the stems, Keller's cherry-colored 2013 Morstein Spätburgunder trocken GG shows a beautifully ripe, sweet, intense but refined and floral-scented grand cru bouquet of red, ripe, dark berries along with spicy flavors. Full-bodied, velvety, concentrated and round on the palate, this is a very generous and relaxed, juicy Pinot of great intensity, elegance and finesse. The tannins are extremely fine here and the finish is gorgeous. Bottled end of August 2015 after 23 months in two-year-old barrels, this is world class Pinot Noir from Germany. The texture of the Morstein is so different from the Frauenberg and the Bürgel but the reasons for this are not easy to find. Mass selections? Old vines? The fact that the shots are not headed but winded so that the grapes and berries remain smaller? When Klaus Peter and Julia Keller grafted Pinot selections from Burgundy on the old Sylvaner vines, his father Klaus termed this act "a waste of time and money," and promised to put his feet in this vineyard never again. Today he is fairly proud to know that such a lovely Pinot Noir comes from his beloved Sylvaner vineyard.