Grand Cuvée Exquisit – 2019

Grande Cuvée Exquisit from Griesel Sekt made from four Pinot varieties

The 2019 Grande Cuvée Exquisit from Griesel Sekt is the house's flagship, a cuvée of Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier. It spent forty-six months on the lees and was bottled with zero dosage, yielding 2,870 bottles.

Grande Cuvée Exquisit 2019 is the top-tier sparkling wine from Griesel Sekt in Bensheim, located on the Hessian Bergstraße. It is composed of four grape varieties and bottled without any dosage. While the house's other sparkling wines highlight one or two varieties, this one features four, each with a distinct role.

Green apple, quince, and candied kumquat

The aroma begins with green apple and ripe quince, followed by candied kumquats and a hint of jasmine.

Behind this lies fresh brioche, that bakery note that only develops after years on the lees. On the palate, the perlage is so fine that it softens the mouthfeel rather than roughening it, with the acidity pulling clearly through underneath. The finish leaves behind a tart spice from the oak and a freshness that invites the next sip.

Scallops and poularde in cream sauce pair well with it, as does an aged Comté. This is not a casual sparkling wine, but one you serve with a meal and enjoy throughout the evening.

Four varieties that support each other

A cuvée is not a compromise, but a calculation. Two-fifths Pinot Noir provide body and structure; one-quarter Pinot Blanc brings composure; one-fifth Chardonnay provides the acidity and tension.

The remainder is Pinot Meunier, that often overlooked variety that adds fullness and early accessibility to sparkling wine. Together, they create a portrait that none of the four could draw on its own.

Here, "cuvée" refers to the blend of varieties, not vintages. While that would be permitted for sparkling wine—and in Champagne, blending multiple years is part of the concept—it remains the exception for German grower-produced sparkling wine. This bottle bears the year 2019 on the label, and that is where it stands.

The grapes for all four varieties grow on the Bergstraße, where weathered granite provides lean, permeable soils and wind from the Odenwald keeps the nights cool. They were harvested by hand in September 2019 and pressed with such restraint that only the first, gentle half flowed into the tank.

Subsequently, each base wine ferments separately: seven-tenths in stainless steel and three-tenths in tonneau, the 500-liter barrels that impart oak influence without dominating. At Griesel Sekt, "Exquisit" denotes the highest tier; the Grande Cuvée is produced only in years that allow for it, and 2019 is only its third vintage.

Forty-six months in the dark

On July 19, 2020, the cuvée was bottled—having never seen a filter or fining agent—along with the *tirage* for the secondary fermentation. What followed is the longest period of lees aging in the regular product range.

It lay for nearly four years in the old Bensheim cellar, was riddled and gradually turned upside down until it was disgorged in June 2024, again without the addition of sulfur. With 7.5 grams of acidity per liter, it sits above all other sparkling wines from the house, and it is precisely this acidity that holds the four varieties together.

From the same vintage, there is a later-disgorged bottling with 59 months on the lees, and the 2018 vintage shows how different two years can be. All bottle-fermented wines can be found under Sparkling Wines.