Recently I was in Edinburgh for a blind wine tasting and the winner of the white wine category was a German Riesling from a producer that I was not familiar with, Peter & Peter. This being German Riesling, that is not so uncommon; but it was nice to see German Riesling getting validation from a panel of blind wine tasting judges.
The wine in question is from the a big German wine producer, Zimmerman-Graeff & Muller. However, it is a conglomeration of several wineries that have been producing wine in Germany since the 1800s so it’s probably safe to say that they know a thing or two about winemaking and that the vines are probably in pretty good nick. The Pinot Noir I tried is also marketed under their Peter & Peter label.
The Peter & Peter Pinot Noir comes from the Pfalz region and ZGM have hired on an American flying winemaker, Andrew George, to make their wines. He has been with them since 2005. Pinot Noir, or Spatburgunder – it’s known by it’s German name – has, while not quite common here in the UK, been produced in Germany for centuries. Usually a pale wine, recently it has been given proper consideration and despite being in a cool climate, you can now find wines with colour and depth – this due to the oak-aging that quality producers now put their wine through.
German Pinot Noir is naturally expensive, but if you can find some it’s definitely worth giving a try. The Peter & Peter 2011 that I had was delicious. The oak was nicely integrated, with hints of cherry and ripe red fruits on the nose and palate. It does have a fairly deep colour, although you can still see through it. Soft and smooth on the palate with balanced acidity, this was a really good wine to have with food. On it’s own, I found it to be a bit thin but with a salty pork chop and baked sweet potato chips – delish!
Peter & Peter 2011 Pinot Noir is available from Tesco Wine by the Case £60 per case of 6.
