A Silent Giant – Pinot Mastery from a Great Winemaker

You open the bottle – and almost feel guilty. As if you had interrupted a meditative process of maturation that was just approaching its quiet completion. Yet this 2002 Spätburgunder shows not the slightest trace of age. On the contrary: it reveals itself in a state of complete harmony.

Profound, balanced, with refined fruit and noble spice. Everything is present, everything in equilibrium. Nothing pushes forward, there is presence without exception. The length on the palate is remarkable, the pleasure immense. In its quiet grandeur and coherent complexity, this wine stands shoulder to shoulder with the finest crus of Burgundy. A German Pinot of international calibre. Chapeau!

Bernhard Huber was a true master of his craft: passionate, brilliant, and always warm-hearted and kind. The memories linger—sharing a cup of hot chocolate at Warsaw’s legendary E. Wedel Chocolate Lounge, attending a business reception in the villa of the German ambassador in Warsaw as part of a gala evening with his wines, introducing his vintages to Asian wine merchants, tasting in intimate circles or at his joyful wine festival in Malterdingen … all remain unforgettable. His wines still tell me those stories—quietly, but with lasting resonance.

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Photo Credit: Arthur Wirtzfeld