The 2018 Herrenberg Spätburgunder GG is deep, intense and ripe on the nose and displays a ripe, dark and red fruit bouquet with floral and herbal aromas as well as discreet but present oaky and licorice notes. Round and generous on the palate, this is a full-bodied, concentrated and firmly structured yet silky, intense and refreshing Pinot that still has a lot of oak flavors but fine tannins and a finely crystalline structure. This Herrenberg needs a longer while to gain the finesse of the JS or even the J, but it is certainly more powerful, compact and juicy. Very promising and with great aging potential. Tasted as a barrel sample in April 2020.

2018 was very hot, so Alexander Stodden started the harvest (nothing but Pinot Noir and Pinot Precorcé) in mid-August to preserve the house's own cool, lean and elegant style. "We definitely did not want too high alcohol levels, and of course, we also aimed for nice acidity. Therefore, we decided to start the harvest immediately after reaching physiological maturity," Stodden said in an email he wrote to me in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. Up to now, I could only taste a part of his Pinots, but a tasting at the winery at the end of August is arranged. According to first impressions, 2018 might have been one of the best years so far for the red wine estate Jean Stodden. Even the simpler Pinot Noirs show class with elegance and finesse, whereas the Herrenberg GG shows complexity and power in combination with finesse and freshness.

Suckling 94, Quite floral, but behind this lightness is a strong wine with a finely etched tannin structure that has plenty of drive. Some cocoa and spice from oak, but this sits neatly within the framework that the grape character gives the wine. Drink or hold.

Fine--Kirschfarben, hell, am Rand rubinrot. Im Duft teilen sich die Frucht mit Aromen von Kirsche und Pflaume die sensorische Bühne mit Noten von Zigarrenkiste und gerösteten Mandeln. Packt am Gaumen mit viel Frucht und satter Säure zu, und auch die Tannine geben sich recht stramm.Schokolade, Zedernwürze und dunkle mineralische Andeutungen melden sich im Abgang, der im Moment noch etwas adstringierend wirkt. Noch im Rohbau, aber vielversprechend.