Sunday 9 May 2010

Schlumberger Spätburgunder

As mentioned recently, Jenny and I rode past renowned wine estate Schlumberger on our bikes one Sunday. Being a day of rest, the winery was closed for business. However, by coincidence, we saw Mrs Schlumberger in her open-top VW Beetle driving in just as we were dawdling by the side of the road. She gave us little more than a cursory glance as she turned in through the gates and into the winery courtyard. "More bloody tourists," is probably what she was thinking, I'd hazard a guess.

Be that as it may, today's wine is a Schlumberger Spätburgunder from 2004 - purchased as a bin-end at Karstadt for a mere EUR 6.50.

Weingut H. Schlumberger, Spätburgunder trocken 2004, Baden
This is the Schlumbergers' "standard" Pinot. Matured in a large oak vat for 12 months, cold-macerated for three days and fermented for nine days on the skins.

Deep ruby in appearance, this has a black cherry and marzipan nose with minerally hints. The oak influence is unobtrusive but gives backbone and an earthy autumnal note. A day later, I think I can detect mocha and maybe even some bacon fat. Very promising. This translates well on to the palate, which is lush and medium-light but also shows plenty of tension. Coming from the 2004 vintage, this is an interesting study on how well even "estate" wines like this one can age. Certainly drinking well at the moment, but I suspect another few years cellaring wouldn't harm it either.

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