11 of the Best Pinot Noirs from Germany

Germany is most famous for its Rieslings, dry and sweet, but did you know that Germany also produces some world-class Pinot Noirs? The grape is the country’s most planted red variety, and Germany is the world’s third-largest producer of Pinot Noir.

If you look at the map, almost all of Germany’s winegrowing regions are in the southwest, bordering or not far from France, and most are near the Rhine River or its tributaries, which give the vineyards their heart and soul.

When it comes to Pinot Noir, Pfalz, the warmest region, is perhaps most important. Pfalz shares a border with France’s Alsace, which also produces outstanding Pinot Noirs. In fact, one producer I list below actually grows grapes on both sides of the border, as do several others.

Other important regions for Pinot Noir are Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Ahr, and neighboring Baden and Württemberg. Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson note in their “World Atlas of Wine” that some of the more avant-garde producers in Baden, “using Burgundian techniques and clones, now manage to turn out elegant Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that are scarcely put to shame by Burgundian originals.”

In fact, comparisons with Pinots from world-renowned Burgundy are not off base. Stylistically, many German Pinot Noirs fall on the lighter side compared with, say, the wines of Sonoma in California or even Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Alcohol levels in the 12 to 13 percent range are common. The wines tend to have more acidity, which gives them a lively freshness.

“I think it’s a growing category and I think it’s a really interesting category,” Jake Halper, the founder of Field Blend Selections, a New York-based importer and distributor, tells me. “I think that, with the rising prices of Burgundy, Germany represents a clear alternative.”

Like red Burgundies, the better German Pinots are marked by distinct minerality — even in the moderately priced wines — that comes from a variety of soils, including slate, loess, clay, and limestone, giving them a complexity that makes many of them real values.

Overall, Germany is a cool-climate wine country, but with global warming, it has become easier for the grapes, regardless of the variety, to achieve ripeness. Halper recalls that in Germany in the early 1990s, when he started in the wine business, “the problem was one of climate” — but not the warming trend we’re seeing now.

It was often too cold, he says, “and so maybe you had two or three out of every 10 years a really terrific vintage. Now, fortunately and unfortunately, there’s a lot more warmth in the area so you’re getting more consistent vintages every year and more ripeness.”

It’s a good thing, at least for right now, and I certainly noticed a nice ripeness to the fruit in most of the Pinot Noirs I tasted.

For Americans, one of the issues when it comes to German wines has always been the language of the labels. For Pinot Noirs, it’s more simple than Rieslings, which require some knowledge of the German words used for the various levels of sweetness.

Pinots, on the other hand, are labeled either as Pinot Noir or Spätburgunder, the German word for the grape, and these days, more of the wines are using the English term. The regions (Pfalz, Rheingau, etc.) are sometimes on the front but in other cases in small type on the back label. And a key term to look out for is “trocken,” which means “dry.”

Halper describes German Pinot Noir as a “category that’s still in transition,” with many winemakers trying to decide their styles. Although he says that “Germany’s very much in the shadow of France,” that fact presents an opportunity to try some very good, under-the-radar Pinot Noirs at significant values.

Here are 11 of the best Pinot Noirs from Germany:

Jürgen Leiner ‘Handwerk’ Pinot Noir 2022

Perfumed, gorgeous red fruits, including raspberry and dark cherry, are punctuated by earth, autumn leaves, and near-perfect acidity. The grapes are grown biodynamically in a mixture of sandstone and alluvial soils in the southern Pfalz.

Price: $24
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Prost Pinot Noir 2022

This excellent-value Pinot Noir from Pfalz shows aromas of bright red fruits, including pomegranate and raspberry with a hint of blueberry. They continue on the palate and are joined by earth and mineral notes. Fermented and aged in stainless steel.

Price: $17
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August Kesseler ‘The Daily August’ Pinot Noir 2022

Red and dark fruit aromas and flavors, including strawberry, blackberry, and blueberry, are framed by flinty minerality and accented by hints of cracked black pepper, vanilla, and wet leather. The wine is aged in small oak barrels.

Price: $27
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Georg Breuer Pinot Noir ‘Rouge’ 2022

From a top Rheingau producer, this well-balanced Pinot Noir is lean with an ABV of 12 percent. Plum, blueberry, and raspberry notes and a hint of vanilla are framed by a mineral edge.

Price: $29
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Von Winning Pinot Noir ‘Royale’ 2022

A bigger wine at 14 percent ABV, subtle dark fruit aromas and flavors are punctuated by baking spices, vanilla, and powdered cocoa. The wine receives 18 months of aging in small barrels, and the oak integration is seamless.

Price: $45
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Dautel Estate Pinot Noir 2022

This bottle comes from the lesser-known Württemberg region, which is known for its steep, terraced vineyards. Fresh red fruit and blueberry aromas, underbrush, and a vanilla touch carry over on the palate with a wet-stone minerality on the long finish.

Price: $25
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Familie Friedrich Becker Pfalz Pinot Noir 2020

Becker’s vineyards lie in both the southernmost part of Pfalz and across the border in Alsace, though, of course, the grapes cannot by law be combined. The Pfalz Pinot Noir grows in limestone and clay-loam soils, and the wine is aged in large and small French oak barrels. There’s an elegance to this wine, as hints of earth, powdered cinnamon, and white pepper accent ripe strawberry and cherry notes.

Price: $22
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Jan Matthias Klein ‘Little Red Riding Wolf’ Spätburgunder 2020

Organic. No fining or filtering. No added sulfites. 11.5 percent ABV. This lively, offbeat, “natural” take on Pinot Noir from the Mosel (home to the world’s most acclaimed Rieslings), is simply delicious. Bursting with red fruit notes — cranberry, cherry, strawberry, pomegranate — and lively acidity, it’s hard to stop drinking this one. Swirl it around a lot in the glass and the spritz will calm down. And don’t forget to give it a slight chill.

Price: $43
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Borell-Diehl ‘BD’ Pinot Noir 2021

A bit enclosed at first but opens up nicely to reveal fresh red cherry and blueberry notes with hints of red licorice, tobacco, black pepper, and vanilla. Aged in used large barrels, there’s almost no sign of oak in the wine. An under-$20 bargain.

Price: $14
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Hansjörg Rebholz Spätburgunder 2020

This is an outstanding organic and biodynamic estate-bottled wine, the best of my tastings, showing great balance of fruit, acidity, and oak treatment all seamlessly woven together. Dark fruit aromas and flavors include concentrated plum and blackcurrant with touches of powdered cocoa, brown sugar, and vanilla. Silky tannins give the wine an added layer of polish. Another wine from the far south of Pfalz near Alsace.

Price: $50
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Fritz Waßmer Spätburgunder ‘M’ 2018

Ripe red and dark berry notes are punctuated by touches of earth as well as fennel and other herbs in this nicely balanced Pinot Noir from Baden. Fine tannins make it effortless to drink.

Price: $36
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