Dark in color and spicy in its its intensely fruity bouquet, the 2015 Rheingau Pinot Noir Cuvée Max is a full-bodied, elegant and velvety textured red wine with an enormously juicy palate and stimulating, mineral, crystalline acidity. Blackberry aromas intertwine with salty and toasty nougat aromas, and although the fruit is perfectly ripe and concentrated, the overall character is rather coolish. The tannins are ripe yet fresh, the finish still pretty oaky, but this is an excellent and very juicy Pinot from Assmannshausen.

The 2014 Rheingau Pinot Noir Cuvée Max, sourced 100% from Assmannshausen (70% H?llenberg, 30% Frankenthal), shows a deep, nobly intense and elegant cherry bouquet with more tar and mocha flavors (due to 75% new barriques) compared to the Rheingau Pinot Noir. There are noble, slate-like aromas here as well. On the palate, this is a silky-textured, finesse-full, fresh and elegant Pinot with firm tannins and good tension, due to the dry, mineral soul. The finish is very clear, straight and persistent, indicating an excellent selection of perfectly ripe grapes. The wine is powerful and concentrated, and indicates a great ageing potential. Total production is 1,400 liters.

Pungent lavender and white pepper accent ripe dark berries on the nose of Kesslers 2008 Spatburgunder trocken Cuvee Max and are joined on the palate by saline, soy-like savor and maritime-like alkaline and brine. Toasted nuts and singed meat add interest to a tenacious finish marked by considerable fruit skin chew, fruit pit bitterness, and hints of wood tannin and smoke. (A portion of the barriques here were new.) This wines 14% alcohol doesnt really get in the way, although for now at least I prefer the exuberance of the corresponding “basic” bottlings to the overt density and structure of this Cuvee Max, a Pinot probably best-enjoyed at roughly 4-8 years of age. (Since this had been in bottle only a week when I tasted it, I suspect it might be displaying greater generosity by the time you read this tasting note.) August Kesseler and his cellarmaster Max Himstedt promise great things from their 2009 Pinot Noirs but they were not yet ready to show them last September. In light of that allegedly outstanding quality as well as of the difficult market, they decided that their 2008 collection in red should culminate at the Cuvee Max quality level and not include vineyard-designated bottlings. In his usual conservative and market-sensitive approach, Kesseler also elected to bottle from 2009 one of his smallest Riesling collections in memory, inter alia forgoing any attempt to capture what little botrytis was present. Irrigation was critical during the late summer drought, insists Kesseler, “otherwise, we would have harvested grapes in the Rudesheimer Berg of only 80 or 85 Oechsle.”Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802