Karl Johner Pinot Noir Kaiserstuhl

Description

Karl Johner Pinot Noir Kaiserstuhl is a light and fresh Pinot Noir from the Baden wine-growing region of Germany. It is the little brother of the Karl Johner Pinot Noir. Johner focuses on wines full of structure but with purity and elegance.

After studying oenology in Geisenheim, Karl Heinz Johner spent ten years working for a large English winery (Lamberhurst Winery in Kent). Karl had always thought that Burgundy and Baden, which are not that far apart, have similar wine-growing conditions and decided that he wanted to make quality Pinot Noir in Germany. Therefore, in 1985, Karl and his wife Irene founded a little Weingut (Estate) in their home village “Bischoffingen” in the Kaiserstuhl.

The Kaiserstühl is a volcanic outcrop in the Rhine Valley with an ideal climate and a unique terroir of mineral-rich, volcanic ash soil. Having overcome the difficulties of the German wine laws, Karl Heinz Johner has established himself as a pioneer of a new German wine style. Today, with his son Patrick at the helm, Karl H. Johner is considered one of the best wine estates in southern Germany and the vineyards cover some  17 hectares in Bischoffingen and surrounding areas.

Winemaking

Karl Johner Pinot Noir Kaiserstuhl is produced from grapes grown on Johner’s cooler Löss soil sites. Great care it taken in vineyard management with intensive manual vineyard work like de-leafing and reducing the crop levels. Picking and sorting is done by hand. Skin contact fermentation for 4 weeks followed by a maturing in used oak barrels for 15 months.

Pinot Noir is also known as Blauer Spätburgunder or Spätburgunder in Germany.