Knipser Winery – Blauer Spätburgunder from the Palatinate
The Knipser Blauer Spätburgunder 2022 is a Spätburgunder estate wine composed of grapes from various vineyard sites around Laumersheim, grown on limestone and gravel. With only 0.4 g of residual sugar, the Blauer Spätburgunder from Knipser can rightfully be called dry. It ferments completely and matures for a year and a half in previously used 225-liter wooden barrels. This gives it a delicate woody note that provides structure.
The Blauer Spätburgunder red wine reveals fruity aromas of wild red berries and juicy cherries on the nose. On the palate, the Knipser Blauer Spätburgunder is delicate and elegant. This Knipser red wine is a fine introductory Pinot Noir with good structure and a multi-layered taste of raspberry and heart cherry, accompanied by sweet, delicate notes of cigar box and light roasted aromas of espresso powder.
Winemaking – Knipser
Good vineyard work is a prerequisite for the best wines, which is why the Knipser winery takes important steps to reduce yields through short vine pruning in winter and green harvesting, or vendange verte, in summer. The vines for this Spätburgunder grow in the best vineyards around Laumersheim, characterized by limestone marl or gravel.
Selective hand-harvesting of the Spätburgunder grapes in late autumn usually takes place in several passes to ensure the harvest of optimally ripe grapes. At the winery, all grapes are destemmed, meaning they are freed from their stems. This is followed by classic mash fermentation, which takes about 14 days; then, the grapes are gently pressed in a tank press and, after a short settling period during which the coarse yeast settles, transferred to wooden barrels. Here, malolactic fermentation takes place, in which malic acid is converted into milder lactic acid, which gives the wine softness and a good mouthfeel.
Maturation always takes place in wood. Basic-tier qualities mature in older barrique barrels. Top-tier qualities are matured either entirely or partially in new barriques, depending on the grape variety. For Spätburgunder, 30% - 50% new barrels are used, while for Dornfelder or Cabernet, up to 100% new barrels are used. Storage time in wood ranges between 12 and 30 months. For the Blauer Spätburgunder, it is 18 months of maturation in previously used barriques. Bottling usually takes place in August before the harvest of the year after next.
Blauer Spätburgunder – a wine and its values
- Origin: Red wine from Germany
- Growing region: Palatinate
- Knipser Winery
- VDP. Gutswein (Estate wine)
- Grape variety: Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir)
- Screw cap
- 13% vol. alcohol
- 5.0 g/l acidity
- 0.2 g/l residual sugar