Dörflinger Spätburgunder

It's Pinot Noir time again.

Weingut Dörflinger, Müllheimer Reggenhag Spätburgunder Barrique trocken 2011, Baden, Germany
Word of mouth is a wonderful thing. Hermann Dörflinger probably benefits from it more than others. His website is a single-page study in understatement (albeit with a nifty pop-up to tell customers the directions to his winery). And yet, Weingut Dörflinger figures in many a wine list around these parts and beyond. My theory is that, with Dörflinger, you simply know what to expect - which, in these fast-moving times, is not always a bad thing. All his wines will be fermented down to bone-dryness - and just in case you doubt this, Hermann will helpfully state on the wine label how little residual sugar you're drinking. A boon for diabetics.

And the wines themselves are more than decent, too.

Grenadine with a youthful purplish hue. A leathery whiff on the nose, top-heavy with expressive brambly mix of red and black fruit. Some spicy hints and quite brooding in character. This translates almost like-for-like onto the palate. The tannins are young but already quite accommodating. Dense and complex mouthfeel. The oak ageing is barely noticeable apart from a touch of spice. Packing a surprising punch in relation to its otherwise moderate 13% abv, and also drinking better straight out of the bottle than 24 hours later. Overall, this is disarmingly pure, straight and to the point - very much like Dörflinger's white wines of which I have had more experience.