Martin Zwick, the wine blogger from Berlin, is rapidly building up a reputation as being a mover and shaker in the German wine scene. This is due to the various Berlin Cups that he is organizing. It all started with the BerlinRieslingCup a few years ago, a blind tasting and ranking in November of what Martin Ziwck considered the leading Grosses Gewaechs wines - the ultra-premium dry wines of the VDP producers, Germany’s elite wine makers - that were released on September 1 of the same year. Initially, people did not pay much attention to the BerlinRieslingCup, but this has clearly changed over the years.
But the BerlinCup is no longer just about Grosses Gewaechs wines, Martin has added a (1) BerlinGutsweinCup – ranking entry level wines, a (2) BerlinKabinettCup – ranking lightly sweet wines at the Kabinett level and a (3) BerlinSpaetburgunderCup – ranking German Pinot Noir wines.
Red Wine Revolution in Germany
There is a red wine revolution going on in Germany and the world increasingly takes note of it. Of course, given its location, the red wines of Germany tend to be not like the fruity red wines we know from warmer countries, but lean and more elegant, with a lot of finesse. 30 years ago, the share of red wine in total German wine output was not more than 10 percent; in the international wine scene, people would not talk about German red wine. But this is changing. Germany now produces red wines that can compete with the best of the world; the share of red wines in terms of production has increased to about 35 percent now in Germany and increasingly the international market takes note of what is happening in Germany.
Pinot Noir in Germany
Today, Germany is the third biggest producer of Pinot Noir (called Spaetburgunder in Germany), after France and the US, with more planted than Australia and New Zealand combined. However, despite being the world’s third largest producer of Pinot Noir, the country exports just over 1% of its production.
BerlinSpätburgunderCup 2012/2014
The BerlinSpaetburgunderCup 2012/2014 took place in early October 2014. Tasted and ranked were wines from mostly 2012. A group of sommeliers, wine retailers, wine bloggers, wine marketing people and Pinot Noir lovers tasted and ranked 32 wines. These were all ultra-premium wines, but not only VDP.Grosses Gewaechs wines.
The Ranking
1 Rings/Pfaffmann-Wageck Gottesberg 2012 94,25
2 Kuhn Kirschgarten 2012 91,88
3 Thörle Hölle Spätburgunder 2012 91,88
4 Meyer-Näkel Pfarrwingert 2012 91,75
5 Becker St Paul 2012 91,63
6 Krebs Musikantenbuckel 2012 91,50
7 Jülg Pinot Noir 2012 91,25
8 Metzger Arthos 2012 91,13
9 Bietighöfer Spätburgunder GR 2012 91,00
10 Stefan Meyer Schwarzer Lettern 2012 91,00
11 Keller Frauenberg 2012 90,88
12 Wageck-Pfaffmann Krebsig 2012 90,75
13 Huber Schlossberg 2012 90,63
14 Rings Kallstadter Saumagen 2012 90,63
15 Wageck-Pfaffmann Goldberg 2012 90,63
16 Molitor Schlossberg ** 2011 90,25
17 Johner Pinot Noir Steinbuck 2012 90,25
18 Johner Blauer SB SJ 2012 90,25
19 Kessler Schlossberg GG 2012 90,13
20 Fürst Bürgstädter 2012 90,13
21 Fürst Hunsrück GG 2012 90,00
22 Stefan Meyer Rosengarten 2012 89,75
23 Baltes Klingenberg Schlossberg 2012 89,50
24 Schnaitmann Bergmandel GG 2012 89,38
25 R&C Schneider Engelsberg 2012 89,38
26 Kuhn Steinbuckel PN 2012 89,30
27 Baltes Spätburgunder Klingenberger R 2012 89,25
28 Becker 2012 Kammerberg 89,13
29 Rebholz 2009 R Gold 88,63
30 Gutzler Brunnenhäuschen 2011 88,63
31 Molitor Klostergarten 2011 *** 88,38
32 Enderle & Moll Liason 2012 87,88
schiller-wine: Related Postings (Berlin Cups)
Germany’s Best Ultra-premium Dry Riesling Wines - BerlinRieslingCup 2013, Germany
Germany’s Ultra Premium Dry Riesling Wines – The Berlin Riesling Cup 2012
Germany’s Top Wines – The Berlin Riesling Cup 2011 Ranking
Martin Zwick’s BerlinGutsweinrieslingCup 2014 - Rating Entry-level Rieslings from Germany's Best Producers
BerlinGutsrieslingCup 2013– Rating Entry-level Rieslings from Germany
Berlin Gutsriesling Cup 2012, Germany
Martin Zwick's BerlinKabinettCup 2014: Germany's Best 2013 Riesling Kabinett Wines
BerlinKabinettCup 2013 - Kabinett 2012, Germany
Germany's Best Pinot Noir Wines - BerlinSpätburgunderCup 2012/2014
BerlinSpaetburgunderCup 2011/2013, Germany
Schiller-wine - Related Postings
German Wine and Culture Tour by ombiasy, 2013
3 Wine Tours by ombiasy Coming up in 2014: Germany-North, Germany-South and Bordeaux
Tasting with Johannes and Christoph Thoerle, Weingut Thoerle in Saulheim, Rheinhessen, Germany
The Tim Atkin Pinot Noir Taste-Off of October 2011: Germany Versus the Rest of the World - German Red Wines Show Strong Performance
Surprising the World with their Pinot Noir: Johannes and Christoph Thoerle, Winzerhof Thoerle, Rheinhessen, Germany
The Wines of Up and Coming Winzerhof Thoerle, Rheinhessen
Kuenstler, Meyer-Naekel, Wirsching – Winemaker Dinner at Kronenschlösschen in Hattenheim, Rheingau, Germany
5 Top Wine Makers at Premier Cru Wein Bistro in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Weingut Huber: One of the Fathers of the German Red Wine Revolution: Weingut Huber in Baden
Visiting Winemaker and Web 2.0 Guru Patrick Johner - Weingut Karl Heinz Johner and Johner Estate - in Baden, Germany
A Pinot Noir Star: Visiting August Kesseler and his Weingut August Kesseler in Assmannshausen, Germany
August Kesseler’s Pinot Noir and Richard Wagner’s Ring der Nibelungen in San Francisco, USA