Close your eyes and you might be fooled into thinking you're drinking Burgundy. Who would have thought you'd find Pinot of this class in the Mosel. Lifted violets, fresh red cherry, Campari, nutmeg. Beautiful implementation of whole bunch (40%) matched by the new oak here (40% also). Quartz like tannin, vibrant acid and a long, beautiful finish. A game changing pinot here for sure.
Nerdy Stuff
Producer: Daniel Fries
Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Mosel
Soil Type: Slate Rich Sand
Vintage: 2022
Alcohol: 13.0% ABV
Volume: 750ml
About Daniel Fries
Daniel is the 8th Generation of the Fries family who farm 8ha of vineyard in the village of Winningen, exclusively hand harvesting and without the use of herbicides. They farm a Riesling in 2 of the Grand Cru appellations of Uhlen and Rottgen, alongside one of the first estates in the Mosel to plant Pinot Noir in 1986.
The only single vineyard Pinot which I make, but it’s not from a Grand Cru appellation. It’s one small vineyard of 4 terraces, situated 100 m above the Mosel and facing eastward as the usually south-facing hillside curves here. Most of the east-facing vineyards were abandoned in the 70s, however for some reason my dad decided to plant Pinot in this special plot over 30 years ago. It’s the highest and windiest Pinot-parcel that we farm, which results in concentrated and powerful, yet elegant Pinots. The name is an abbreviation of the official vineyard name “Domgarten”. This appellation is very heterogenous as it contains a lot of flat vineyards around the village as well. Therefore I didn’t want to use the official name. On another note, “Dom” is a reference to all the walls built by our ancestors over the centuries here, which often involved arches and stairways – just like a cathedral.
Winemaking
Handpicked and fermented in big open top containers (either stainless steel or oak cuve). 40% Whole Bunches. They stay ~3 weeks on skins and I believe in a long but very gentle extraction (mostly pumpovers, plus a few punch downs by hand). After pressing everything goes to barrel for 16 months (French oak, 40% new), and is bottled unfiltered.
