Some revelations come only out of experience. If you have not yet discovered your favourite 15-year-old wine it’s time to take a closer look at bottles from the 2000s. For example, I took a look at Spätburgunder 2005.
When after an extensive tasting Joachim Heger (in Germany’s region of Baden) gave me a bottle saying “Take this one. They say that wine is for the lovers of the old German style”, I thought to myself: “here come the aromas of a brutal beast”. Who knew that Heger’s “old style” was that? No one warned me, no one said anything. Nobody gave away the secret that Baden is not just youthful powerful Pinots, but something aged to optimal maturity, which, once in the mouth, transforms one’s mind and causes a powerful — and instant — addiction.
Spätburgunder 2005 from the Erste-Lage terroir called Winklerberg (Erste Lage a sort of Premier Cru in Burgundy) is a ruby-colored liquid, a wine that you immediately want to treat those who sit nearby sipping something semi-sweet. Wine (which, of course, is not on sale) behaves completely differently at different temperatures — another evidence of the importance of this servicing aspect for all of us.
Warm (+25)
At 12.5% alcohol the warm 14-year-old Spat expresses a broad, soft and alcoholic character. It is drinkable, but is spoiled by high temp. After taking a test sip, put the bottle in the cooling sleeve. And wait.
Slightly cool (+20)
There is no strength to wait for a long time: the very first refresh of the glass after 15 minutes of sleeve cooling shows this Spatburgunder is hiding other qualities: the alcoholic warmth disappears, the wine changes, when cool it becomes stricter and more elegant by an order of magnitude, “wrinkles” smooth out as if by magic.
Cool (+17)
The patience (ours) and the work (Heger’s) are really capable of amazing things. We live through the moment when the very “old school Pinot” turns out to be not an ugly duckling, but a beautiful swan. Happy smiles and the wine flows into brains, clearly perceptible notes of natural greed suddenly appear in it — “chill, amigo, this is my sip!”
Greed gives the wine glamor and brilliance, it becomes easier to describe in better terms. A sign of high-class wine? The fact that you can describe it only in the context of what you don’t feel in it. This wine is not “made”, it is “matured, reached, bided its time”. It has no “profile”, it has consequences for your body: increased heart rate, addiction, dilated pupils.
Which is amazing.