Hölle Spätburgunder

Just a stunning bottle. Deep, dark, coiled and incredibly pure, with that unmistakable Hölle combination of fruit intensity, mineral darkness and quiet inner violence. Black cherry, sour cherry, wild raspberry, crushed rock, violets, smoke, earth, iron and spice, but the real story is the texture. This has that dense 2022 core, but it never feels heavy or overblown. It is compact, serious, layered and beautifully proportioned, with tremendous midpalate depth and a finish that keeps expanding instead of simply fading.

What I love here is the tension between ripeness and restraint. There is real fruit, real concentration, real flesh, but the wine is controlled by structure, minerality and site. The tannins are fine but present, the acidity gives it lift, and the whole thing feels like it is moving inward and outward at the same time. Young, obviously, but already compelling. Needs air and will be better with years, but this is a major 2022 German Pinot Noir. Serious, dark, elegant, and absolutely loaded with future.

Day three. Still completely alive, not a thing lost. Creamy, juicy, ripe, sweet-fruited, with the tannins finally calmed down and perfectly integrated. The whole wine has snapped into harmony. I knew it had the guts to go the distance. Fantastic. 9.7 on days 1/2 and 9.8 on day 3.

Nose is cranberry, spice and mulberry. So different than what Thorle is doing today. Love this style but also love the newer style. What a winery! Some herbs, some limestone aromas and sour cherry. Very complex. Palate is energetic and to be honest a bit of an herbal streak that I love but others might not. No green from 18 on for this bottling. I am betting it goes away with air. Palate is lush and energetic with terrific purity and depth. Good freshness and depth hut seems thing compared to what they are doing now. Sour and early season cherry fruit and super velvety tannins. Let’s see what happens with air.

What a drop dead stunningly profound wine. Just so brilliant. Nose is all elite plum, black raspberry, mid season cherries, sour cherries, black cherries and lovely tree bark and a hint of herbals. So complex and so pure. There is a delicacy and elegance to the nose that is stunning. Also some citrus top notes. Palate is at once round and but also has terrific energy from what seems like stem inclusion. So nimble and pure. This has serious structure and the fruit in the palate is sweet but also high toned and cooling and one can tell this is a cool vintage wine. What an epic finish and such refined tannins. This also needs to breathe. And it will improve and wow what a wine. Let’s see where it goes.

Intense violets. Intense purple fruits. So so pungent and intense. Chalky and gorgeous. Just a perfect wine. This is the real deal. Finish is minutes and so crunchy. This is the best Holle ever.

One of the greatest Pinots in Germany. Just a ridiculous wine. Heaven in a nose. Just so high toned. It’s like a sphere. Spice, limestone, so mineral, some fresh herbs, so so so complex. Sour cherry to medium cherry, pomegranate, cherry flower and ripe dark cherry but only a hint. It’s always changing it’s hard to pin down. Amazing fruit definition. Clarity is just amazing. Mint, tree bark, transcendent. Palate is deep and juicy but also not nearly as open as the nose. It’s transcendent. It’s long. It’s complex. It’s got intense and substantial structure. Insane concentration, depth and power. Sappy and mouth coating fruit and tannin and so complex. Amazing, mineral infused tannins. This is such a fucking great wine. It’s young and in 5-6 years will be epic but this is remarkable shit. The tiny berry fruit intensity is something else. Amazing texture. Almost a hint of creaminess. This is just a sphere of Pinot. Just so focused and linear. Amazing finish. Remarkable. So so so long. The echoes of fruit on the finish are endless.

Stunning. Just had the 2016 and wanted to try 2015 soon thereafter. Soaring nose of spices, deep cherry and mineral. A huge almost NSG like perfume. Gorgeous sour cherry as well. Insanely fragrant. Exotic spices. Hoisin. Really profound. Amazing sap and sweetness on the palate with and almost painful fruit intensity. So refined. Also powerful, dense and explosive but also exhibiting terrific spine and tension. Epically long finish. Almost creamy texture after some air. What sweetness. This is amazing. A baby but will age for 15+’years. Likely needs 3-4.

The piece de la resistance of the Thörle lineup. Knockout nose that reminds me of high end NSG. Stunning depth and purity. The palate is amazing. So much depth, huge fruit and structure and so much structure. It shows a level of class and finesse that is beyond all the other wines. Also it’s substantially concentrated and the finish just goes on and on. The fruit is insane. Oh man. Thrilling levels. Such an incredible fruit soak this seems like it could be Grand Cru from Côte d’Or. Best Thörle Pinot I’ve had.

Red cherry, blackberry, red currant, tamarind, licorice, with some shoe polish & menthol intrigue. Great energy and concentration. Throbbing tart fruit on the finish. Coiled tight, superb nose that’s still a bit reticent.

This is drinking so well now. Nose is stunning and floral. Spices galore. Amazing cherries and Xmas spice. Gingerbread. Lovely limestone background. Beautiful mid season cherries. Super sweet cherry fruit and velvety tannins. So tangy and concentrated. Amazingly pure. Before 2018/2019 this was the benchmark Thorle Pinot and nice to see it’s drinking so well. Terrific sweetness and the tannins are so good and come one more with air. Sweet, silky and velvety.

Phenomenal. Family visiting. Bottle didn’t last long enough for notes.