Kapelle Gewürztraminer vines (with the chapel to the left)
Photo courtesy of Henrik Möbitz

Henrik Möbitz

Freiburg, Baden

Vineyard area: 1 ha (2.5 acres)
Soils: Clay, marl, loess, limestone
Best sites: Kanzel, Kœpfle, Kapelle
Production: 250 cases

I had not been too crazy about Baden as a wine region, until recently. Admittedly, my exposure to Baden wines has been shamefully limited. The handful of wines I tried did not meet the expectations I had after reading in several publications that Baden was Germany's best kept secret, about to enter the stage of the world's finest Pinot Noirs.

Then my brother sent me 4 half-bottles from an estate called Henrik Möbitz in Freiburg, Baden. I had never heard of this producer, but my brother has a penchant for seeking out winemakers who do their work quietly and I trust his palate. I wanted to know more about Henrik Möbitz, but neither Stephen Brook's "The wines of Germany" nor Stuart Pigott's "Wein spricht Deutsch" mention the estate. All I could find online were entries on German wine forums, all basically asking the same question: who is Henrik Möbitz? Without a personal website one immediately reaches hermit status. Perhaps the wine itself would tell me something about Mr. Möbitz. I reached for the corkscrew.

Henrik Möbitz
Photo courtesy of Henrik Möbitz

I didn't need it. The first of the four half bottles I opened was the Kanzel Pinot Noir 2005 and it had a screwtop closure. Starting with the 2004 vintage the Weingut uses screwcaps for all wines. Initial experiments with screwcaps had been promising. Henrik Möbitz believes strongly that his wines will age gracefully over time without the risk of being spoiled by a faulty cork: "I think the question of a natural closure is not relevant here. Yes, cork is a natural product, but based on that nobody would switch from glass to leather drinking vessel." Time will tell whether he is right, but I can say that the Pinot Noir did show development in the screwtop half-bottle, most likely feeding off the oxygen added to the wine during bottling.

I like screwcaps. I don't get particularly nostalgic by pulling a cork (the real excitement for me starts with the sound the wine make when it's being poured into the decanter). However, I did think it was a bit odd that a German winemaker making wine in Germany chose to put "Pinot Noir" on the label, rather than Spätburgunder, the German name for the Burgundian grape. Soon it became clear why: after a few swirls in the glass the wine gave away a pronounced aroma of farmyard, that wonderfully earthy scent, which is so typical for the Old World style Pinot Noir of Burgundy. This was not one of those German Spätburgunder wines, which can be at times either a bit anemic or too generously oaked. The nose also revealed ripe strawberry fruit, along with a strong whiff of black pepper. The palate was equally complex: minerality and anise flavors added vibrancy to the red berry fruit, ending in a fairly long and spicy finish. An astounding wine.

The last of the 4 half-bottles

The Pinot Noir vines on the Kanzel vineyard are a selection massale of unknown source, "but very similar in style to the Pommard clones, which means more scent than body", as Henrik Möbitz describes it. He recently uprooted his Riesling vines and planted them with Dijon clones, as well as a selection massale of old vines from Yves Bizot's Echezeaux. Sadly, the quality of his Riesling did not meet his own expectations and so he decided "to no longer produce Riesling in Baden". Which hopefully means that he will be looking for a vineyard site outside of the fairly warm Baden for his Riesling.

But back to the Kanzel Pinot Noir. I was even more impressed about such profound quality in the glass when I learned that the 2006 vintage only marks the estate's 10th anniversary. Henrik Möbitz is not the offspring of a winemaking family but instead enjoyed a formal education in biochemistry and microbiology until he found his true and more practical vocation as a winemaker. Today he farms about one hectare (2.5 acres) of vineyards, planted with Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer and Weissburgunder. The wines can only become better as the vines become more gnarly.

The blessing of running a relatively small estate is the flexibility in regard to harvest time and the selection of grapes. With the help of family and friends a small vineyard can be harvested within a relatively short amount of time, which means that the grapes can hang and ripen until right before the weather turns.

Baden looks quite nice, actually
Photo courtesy of Henrik Möbitz

Another point worth mentioning is that these wines have relatively low alcohol levels. The Kœpfle Gewürztraminer Auslese 2006, a grand wine with a myriad of flavors and yet only 12% alcohol (the same as the Kanzel Pinot Noir) is an excellent example that complexity is possible at reasonable alcoholic strength. The Kanzel Weissburgunder Spätlese 2006 only needed 10% alcohol to elegantly show its aroma and flavor profile of pear, plum and spices. The low alcohol levels translate into wines that don't tire the palate. I could easily see myself drinking a whole bottle of the Gewürztraminer and still desire more.

Dry wines are categorically made from healthy, non-botrytized grapes, in order to keep alcohol levels low. Once botrytis has attacked the berries, they shrivel. As the water evaporates, sugar levels become more concentrated and therefore the potential alcohol level higher. That means that selection in the vineyard has to be rigid, yielding sometimes to as little as 15 hl/ha, as was the case with the Weissburgunder in 2006. The sweet wines, however, are all made from botrytis-affected grapes.

Only naturally occurring yeasts are used for fermentation and the wines remain on their lees until April. Overall the use of sulphur is kept to a minimum, with no sulphur at all for the Pinots until bottling.

Other wines made by Henrik Möbitz include two more Pinot Noirs from different vineyards (Steinberg and Kapelle) as well as a Weissburgunder Beerenauslese and Gewürztraminer Beerenauslese.

Tasting Notes

Kanzel Pinot Noir 2005

Medium purple color with a medium pink rim. Youthful nose with a pronounced aroma of farmyard, black pepper and strawberry. Dry, medium amount of ripe tannins. Medium alcohol and body. Medium intensity of black pepper, anise, minerality and cherries. Fairly long length with a spicy finish.

Old world Pinot style with a lot of spicy black pepper. The tannins are well integrated, giving the wine a strong background its spiciness. Drink now until 2015.

Kœpfle Gewürztraminer Auslese 2006

Medium golden color with a medium wide watery rim. Medium intensity of tarragon, rose petal, minerality, pear and a hint of bitter grapefruit. Off-dry on the palate, with medium(+) acidity. Medium body and alcohol. Medium intensity of tarragon, grapefruit and apple sauce. Long length with a mineral finish.

Excellent. Gewürztraminer I find often too overpowering but the Kœpfle has a complex, almost delicate nose. Nothing jumps out of the glass and strangles my olfactory system. Instead it bathes it in well-defined vapors. Often, that means that the flavor will fall short. But no: this is an incredibly well balanced and elegant Gewürztraminer! Bitter grapefruit paired with sweet tarragon flavors (and some residual sugar, which offsets the bitterness, which is inherent to this grape variety). This light herbal sweetness is perfectly balanced by a refreshingly high level of acidity, not necessarily connected with this grape. All of this is very concentrated, due to the low yields of only 25 hl/ha. It's ready to drink now but given the fairly high level of acidity and its flavor complexity, this will reward 5-10 years of cellaring.

Kanzel Weissburgunder Spätlese 2006

Medium lemon color. Youthful nose with a medium intensity of pear, plum and spices. Sweet on the palate, medium acidity and body. Low alcohol. Medium intensity of spicy pear flavors, herbs and minerals. Medium to long length with a ripe pear fruit finish. Drink now or keep for at least 3-5 years.

Very good - excellent. Pinot Blanc/Bianco is often a fairly pale wine, not only in color. This Spätlese, however, has exciting pear flavor, which become even more saturated and spicy as the wine warms up in the glass. I would therefore recommend to not serve this wine too cold. The impressively low alcohol of only 10% will not overheat if the wine is drunk almost at room temperature. Maybe after years of either/or between Pinot Blanc and Pinot Bianco one should start to look out more for German Weissburgunder.