Teutonic Wine Company Bergspritze Pinot Noir 2021

At Willamette’s highest point, the ultra-cool Laurel Vineyard sits atop Bald Peak at a lofty 381 metres in the Chehalem Mountains AVA. The site was planted to Pinot Noir in 1981 by owner John Albin for use in his sparkling and rosé wines. When Barnaby Tuttle approached John to purchase fruit for the first Bergspritze (Bergspitze, without the ‘r’, is mountaintop in German) in 2009, many considered him crazy. The site was too cold, surely? Proving there is a fine line between madness and genius, Tuttle’s first release instantly made waves in the restaurant scene and quickly sold out.

It wasn’t just the altitude that drew Barnaby to this vineyard. The Pinot Noir clone is the Alsatian Coury, brought to the region from Alsace in a suitcase by Charles Coury in 1965. The soils are loamy and volcanic, rich in nutrients and said to regulate temperature well. The site is dry-farmed and organically managed.

As is the norm at Teutonic, the fruit was picked as late as possible before being handpicked, sorted and destemmed. It fermented in open-top vessels using a pied de cuve started in the vineyard. After three weeks with daily punch-downs, the wine was pressed and settled before going to old barrels for maturation. Sitting at a subtle and restrained 12%, 2021 bursts out the glass with bright red fruits and a slick of wet rock minerality. It’s dainty and elegant, yet you’ll find the impressive intensity of flavour and flesh to go with its tightly wound and ageworthy structure. Love this.

- Bibendum