2014 Centgrafenberg Spatburgunder Grosses Gewachs

Smoky, vegetal, black cherry, dark chocolate, mixed spice, aniseed, soy – certainly shows all the terroir that Pinot Noir is valued for. Still super-youthful. Intense but not trying too hard. Dark-fruit spectrum – more Nuits than Beaune, if you were going to draw comparisons. (RH)

Every new vintage I discover that the Centgrafenberg is right up there in my list of all-time Spätburgunder greats, and even in a difficult vintage like 2014 its intricate composition of facets catches my enthusiasm. Spicy, smoky, mineral are just a few of the fragrant nuances, add dark fruit, chocolate and a faint herbal breeze, and complexity waits just around the corner of a further couple of years. The fine-tuning of tannins is exemplary, leaving enough room for fruit and minerality to express themselves. The benefit of experience is a wonderful thing! (MS)