1998 Knipser Chardonnay & Weissburgunder, Pfalz

It’s Easter-Sunday and the first rays of sunshine are coming through and make it possible to sit on the balcony again after many weeks of bad weather. This occasion needs a good wine match, and I thought I had one. I bought a wine on Ebay some weeks ago knowing that it would be sacrificed for one special occasion. It was a 1998 Cuvée of Chardonnay and Weissbugunder (Pinot Blanc), from the very reknown Knipser Winery in the Pfalz. Knipser has build a great reputation for making some of the best German red wines, but of course, as it is common fort the Pfalz, they also make excellent whites. Recently they won the Decanter Award for the worlds’ best sweet wine with their 2003 Kappellenberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese. Knipser is also known for experimenting with „international“ varieties in its vineyards. The two brothers succesfully planted Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah vines and, also – which is relevant for our bottle here – Chardonnay, in a region which is basically known as „born to bear Riesling“.
So I didn’t hesitate to bid on this wine, even knowing that it was 9 years old. I simply thought I’d trust the reputation of the winemakers.
We poured our first glasses and held them against the sun: the wine had an intense, nearly fluorescent straw-yellow colour with slight green reflections. In the nose it had ripe fruit, very intensive which became more and more exotic with time, accompanied by the appearance of a typical nutty and buttery Chardonnay note. On the palate it had a little sparkling at the beginning which disappeared rapidly and some light mineral notes. It also had ripe fruit notes rather exotic but not further describable (at least not for me). With some time it developed a nice complex interaction („Spiel“ we say in German = „game“), between fruit and minerality, underlined by a really fine little acidity, but with perfet balance and followed by an endless length. All in all it was a superbe wine where age has done fantastic work and, I don’t know exactly if I’m totally wrong here but I found an analogy for this bottle: „The balance of a Chablis and the fruit of a Pfalz-Riesling“!
I could imagine it well with food also, fish with a thick, creamy sauce for example, but if I had to chose I would drink it again on its own, but it must be a nice occasion.
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Categories: Germany,Pfalz
  1. Wine Rambler Said,

    That made for an interesting read, Alex. Thanks for pointing me to the page. Buying wine on ebay can be a fun adventure!

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