Back in September, I tried a German Pinot Noir (the Meyer-Näkel Spätburgunder Ahr 2006). It was bloody awful.

So, with a visit to Irishtown’s new wine shop, The Wine Boutique I picked up another German Pinot Noir or “Spätburgunder” to see if it could better the previous one I had.

The wine: The Weingut Schindler Müllheim 2005 Sonnhalde, Baden

As you can see, the label is a bit of a mouthful. While some German winemakers are coming around and using more modern wine labels, this one hasn’t.

I think it could be to its detriment outside Germany. As Dale Cruse says on his wine site, “Life is too short for German wine labels”.

It’s a bit of a shame, because this is a really good wine.

Sight, smell and taste

In terms of colour, it’s quite light, you can see right through it.

In the gob it’s also light fresh, elegant and finessed.

Despite the “Spatburgunder” alluding to Pinot Noir ancestry in Burgundy, it’s more like a good Alsatian Pinot Noir (which there isn’t a lot of).

In fact, Mullheim seems to be pretty close to Alsace in France so the weather and soil may be quite similar (part of “terroir”) which may explain the similarities with Alsatian Pinot Noir.

A very decent wine and worth seeking out - it could go very well with a Christmas dinner.

It’s exclusively available from The Wine Boutique in Ringsend, Dublin 4 for under €20.

Therese and Ciara tasted over 60 German Pinot Noirs or Spatburgunders before selecting this one, so it’s discerningly chosen.

The Wine Boutique

Email:

Address: 2 Thorncastle Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4, Ireland (see map)

Phone: 01 667 5281

They also have a Facebook page, which is quite a novel approach to keeping in touch with their customers.