Producer: Weingut Keller  
Region: Rheinhessen, Germany  
Varietal: Pinot Noir  
Year: 2008 

Wine Advocate, 92 Points 

"Representing the contents of just three barriques (one of which was new) and headed for auction, Keller’s 2008 Spatburgunder trocken FR – from the Frauenberg – offers an accentuation of the bright juiciness that renders all three of his 2008 vintage Pinots memorable, and in addition a saline, saliva-inducing savor joins pit fruit, peat, and chalk accents to its succulent cherry and elderberry matrix. This marriage of richness and textural tenderness with refreshment and minerality should be worth following for at least a decade. Around one-third of the fruit here was vinified with stems, and the additional complexity as well as the deft integration of supplemental tannin vis-a-vis Keller’s other two 2009 vintage Pinots – without sacrificing Riesling-like clarity – leaves little doubt that this approach has succeeded. Incidentally, Keller is contemplating grafting-over to the Pinot selection massale that informs this Frauenberg bottling some old, deeply-rooted Riesling vines he has been eyeing in Morstein." 

*Discounts do not apply to items like this one in the Fine & Rare category. Price and availability in store may vary.