Sunday, 13 December 2020

Wine: Klenert Grauburgunder

Recently I took part in an online wine tasting event. The procedure is that you order the wines in advance, and then there's a live broadcast on YouTube, in which the vintner explains the wines. Amusingly, he recommends that the participants only drink a small amount of each wine "unless you're an experienced drinker". That's a discreetly cute way of putting it.

The wines are from the Klenert vineyard in Baden. The tasting consisted of three white wines, one red wine, one rosé wine and one sparkling wine (Sekt). That's a typical mix for Baden wines, because they lean towards the production of white wines. Baden red wines are almost exclusively Spätburgunder, although there are smaller amounts of Lemberger. The white wines are mostly Riesling and Grauburgunder. This means that there's less of a variety of grapes than in Württemberg.

As I've said in the past, I'm prejudiced against Baden wines. I'm a big fan of the delicious dry taste of Württemberg wines. Nevertheless, I went into the wine tasting with an open mind.

Klenert is a new vineyard. David Klenert bought 25,000 square meters of land in 2015, which he's now increased to 140,000 square meters. This was mostly old vineyards from people who were giving up. Being a vintner is a work of love. It means long days of hard work in the harvest period, with the potential of making losses if the weather is bad. David Klenert has a passion for wine that shone through the whole wine tasting session.
The online wine tasting has come about through necessity. As a small and still unknown vineyard, the wine is sold mostly to restaurants and bars instead of being sold in supermarkets. This business was hit hard by the closures in the Coronavirus pandemic. The online wine tastings are a way to promote the wines and encourage customers to buy them directly.


David Klenert speaks passionately about his wines. That's a glass of Grauburgunder in front of him.


The Grauburgunder has won a special jury prize, finishing in the top six of 168 wines in Baden-Württemberg. (The two wine growing areas are combined). It's been named the wine of the month for February 2021.

Grauburgunder isn't my favourite wine. For me, it has a harsh taste. The judges may have liked it, I don't.


This is the line up of the wines in the tasting.

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