Dr Bürklin-Wolf Riesling Forster ‘Pechstein’ Grand Cru 2023

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Pechstein is one of the top location in Forster, next to Kirchenstück, covers 21 hectares, our share is 2.33 hectares. The Pechstein owes its name and its extraordinary minerality to the high proportion of black, volcanic basalt. Located above in the forest is the Pechsteinkopf, where the basalt was mined in two basalt quarries until the end of the 1970s.

About Dr Bürklin-Wolf

The Bürklin-Wolf estate is based in the Mittelhaardt, the quality core of Germany’s world-renowned Pfalz, around the towns of Wachenheim, Forst, Deidesheim and Ruppertsberg. Here with 85ha under vine they have the largest family owned wine estate in all of Germany originating in 1597, with a treasure-trove of superb vineyards, at the centre of which lies the great Kirchenstück. Here in the tiny village of Forst, Kirchenstück and its neighbours Jesuitengarten, Ungeheuer and Pechstein, have for centuries been recognised as producing not only some of the world’s greatest dry Rieslings, but simply some of the world’s greatest wines. In the nineteenth century, prices for these wines exceeded the prices paid for 1st Growth Bordeaux and Grand Cru Burgundy.

“This estate has consistently produced some of the finest dry rieslings of any given vintage from an incredible arsenal of excellent vineyards. One of the first estates in Germany to embrace biodynamic viticulture, Burklin-Wolf is now able give each wine its own voice …

Stephen Tanzer

In the Vineyard

In 1990 Bürklin-Wolf began reviewing their vineyard holdings in the context of the 1828 Royal Bavarian Land Tax Classification and after years of exhaustive research they discovered that today’s top vineyards are substantially the same as those identified back in 1828. Today they have adopted a Burgundian model with four tiers: Estate, Village, PC (code for Premier Cru) and GC (for Grand Cru). They are focussed on dry, terroir-driven wines and no longer routinely produce the Kabinett and Spätlese styles defined by the (still current) 1971 German Wine Law.

In the Winery

Hand harvest and whole-bunch pressing with oxidative handling of the juices into mostly large old foudre for fermentation with indigenous yeast on fine lees for nearly 6 months for the entry level and village wines and 12 months for PC wines and up to 18 months for GC wines.

The 2023 Vintage at Dr Bürklin-Wolf

The 2023 vintage got off to a relaxed start in the Mittelhaardt, with no frost or other adversity. But then water became scarce over the summer; however, the previous winter had stored good amounts of water in the soil, so the plants and fruit remained healthy. Nevertheless, after a long period of drought, rain was longed for in August, and it actually came, and in abundance. As a precaution, the harvest team was placed on call, in order to be able to react quickly if necessary. The rain in August caused individual berries to rot, but since they were easily visible, they posed no problem and were sorted out before the main harvest.

Yet the heavy rainfall delayed the ripening process, and so the desired ripeness had not yet been achieved by the beginning of September. Botrytis was spreading, however. This required a considerable amount of selection work, which significantly slowed down the pace of the harvest compared to previous years, despite the good size of the team. Then it finally dried up, and the botrytis did not develop any further, which helped to ease the tension and turned the team’s previous frustration at the slow progress into cheerfulness. The result is animatingly juicy Rieslings with good pH values, which give the aromatic wines stimulating acidity. They taste excellent, even in their youth, but at the same time they also have good aging potential.

In Wachenheim, a single Auslese could be harvested, but otherwise the focus at Bürklin is on the production of great, dry Palatinate Rieslings from biodynamic production. As always, the Kirchenstück is the most impressive wine of the 2023 series, followed by Pechstein and Gaisböhl. The Gerümpel premier cru is beautiful and on the level of the grands crus this year such as Langenmorgen, Hohenmorgen and Ungeheuer. Bürklin-Wolf also remains a superb producer of Village wines, which are on the level of many Pfalz crus and deliver impressive complexity, class and tension in this price range.

Stephen Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate

Where in the World is Dr Bürklin-Wolf?

The vineyards of Dr Bürklin-Wolf are in the heart of the Pfalz.

The German VDP has an excellent interactive map covering the wine growing regions of Germany. Click on the Map to go to the live version.