Some top Chardonnays from Baden, Germany
Baden is a long, thin wine region, and is Germany’s most southerly, located on its western border with France. Hop over the Rhine and you’ll find it sort of mirrored by Alsace.
Baden is a sizeable region, with 16 000 hectares, and is the country’s most important region for Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir), which makes 40% of the plantings. Chardonnay is a relatively minor player, but on this showing, it’s worth looking out for.
I’ve visited just once, and didn’t explore extensively, so I was really pleased to get to try this set of Baden Chardonnays at the recent VDP tasting in Wiesbaden. These are all Grosses Gewächs, and there are some stunners here. As soon as I got home, I went online and bought a couple of bottles of Chardonnay from Bernhard Huber!
THE WINES
Seeger Leimen Herrenberg Lange Wingert Chardonnay 2019 Baden, Germany
Very lively with some toast, spice and peaches on the nose. The palate has good acidity, but also warm, toasty, creamy notes. Shows richness. 92/100
Heitlinger Tiefenbach Heinberg Chardonnay 2018 Baden, Germany
Lively and intense with a lemony edge to the fruit. This has good acidity with nice weight to the fruit. Some subtle nutty notes. Very pure and linear. 92/100
Andreas Laible Durbach Plauelrain “Am Bühl” Chardonnay 2019 Baden, Germany
Open, spicy, peachy and lemony. This has good concentration with sweet fruit countered by keen acidity. This is really attractive with nice intensity. 93/100
Wöhrle Lahr Kronenbühl Gottsacker Chardonnay 2019 Baden, Germany
Quite creamy on the nose, with some nutty notes supporting the bright citrus and pear on the palate. Showing some oak, but very appealing. 90/100
Bernhard Huber Malterdingen Bienenberg Chardonnay 2018 Baden, Germany
This has lovely acidity with lemons and spice and minerals. It’s really linear with a nice crystalline character, as well as some appley notes. Lovely complexity here: this is really special. 94/100
Bernhard Huber Hecklingen Schlossberg Chardonnay 2018 Baden, Germany
Has a mineral edge to the lively lemony fruit. Complex, saline, mineral and with a lovely lemon and apple fruitiness supported by good acidity and lively spiciness. This is quite remarkable: almost Jura-like in style. Lovely stuff. 95/100
Franz Keller Oberrotweil Kirchberg Chardonnay 2018 Baden, Germany
This is mineral and poised with pear and peach fruit with some nutty, creamy hints, and a nice citrussy edge. Very expressive with nice purity. Such detail here. 93/100
Michel Achkarren Schlossberg Chardonnay 2019 Baden, Germany
Fresh and nicely detailed with some fine spices and lovely mineral characters. Shows a bit of spicy wood, but it integrates well. Lemon and pear fruit. Very fine. 93/100
Staatsweingut Freiburg Blankenhornsberg Doktorgarten Chardonnay 2018 Baden, Germany
Fine and pure with good acidity under the bright citrus and pear fruit, with a touch of white peach richness, as well as a mineral edge. Lovely precision here, with a fine toastiness on the finish. Very convincing. 93/100
Stigler Ihringen Winklerberg “Pagode” Chardonnay 2018 Baden, Germany
Supple, fresh, fine and expressive with nice grainy detail to the fruit. Has a lovely mineral core to it, finishing fine and fresh. 94/100
Dr. Heger Ihringen Winklerberg Hinter Winklen “Gras im Ofen” Chardonnay 2018 Baden, Germany
Taut and mineral with nice precision and focus. It is elegant and quite pure with lovely fine-grained structure. A lovely wine. 94/100
Blankenhorn Schliengen Sonnenstück Chardonnay 2018 Baden, Germany
There’s a touch of oak here, some hints of cabbage, and nice appley, lemony fruit. Rounded and characterful, this is very stylish. 92/100
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