Hessian State Wineries, Kloster Eberbach – Assmannshäuser Höllenberg Pinot Noir Spätlese, dry, 1997

Hessian State Wineries, Kloster Eberbach – Assmannshäuser Höllenberg Pinot Noir Spätlese dry 1997: A silent monument to the German red wine miracle

There are bottles of wine that are less a drink than a historical document – a liquid witness to a bygone era in which German Pinot Noir stood on the threshold of world-class status, yet was known to only a handful of connoisseurs. The bottle under discussion here – an Assmannshäuser Höllenberg Pinot Noir Spätlese dry from the 1997 vintage, produced by the Hessian State Wineries Kloster Eberbach – is precisely such a relic. It comes from one of Germany’s most legendary red wine vineyards, from a state winery with a viticultural tradition stretching back almost nine hundred years, and from a vintage described by contemporary witnesses as ‘magnificent’. Tasting a bottle of this wine today is no ordinary encounter with a German red wine, but a journey into the quiet grandeur of a region that once rivalled the great Burgundies and whose reputation had almost been lost to oblivion.

The Höllenberg: A vineyard of mythical splendour

To understand this wine, one must first understand the vineyard from which it comes. The Assmannshäuser Höllenberg is no ordinary vineyard. It is regarded as one of Germany’s finest red wine vineyards and as the heart of the Assmannshausen estate, which is managed by Eberbach Abbey. The vineyards are situated on an extremely steep , south-facing slope – with a gradient of up to 65 per cent – and rest on a soil of phyllite schist, a rock formed by the further metamorphosis of schist and characterised by its shimmering mica content. This barren, mineral-rich geology forces the vines to develop deep roots and lends the wines their distinctive structure, their spicy minerality and their ability to age for decades.

The historical significance of this vineyard site cannot be overstated. As wine journalist Stuart Pigott explained in a detailed report for JamesSuckling.com, the Höllenberg enjoyed its golden age from 1925 onwards, when ‘one of the most modern red wine cellars in Europe, if not the world’ was built in Assmannshausen – a gravity-fed winery, decades before the term had even been coined. During this period, Pinot Noirs were produced which even experienced tasters still describe today as ‘breathtaking masterpieces’ and which, according to Pigott, could easily hold their own against the finest Burgundies of that era. The German Emperor Wilhelm II is said to have been such a great admirer of these wines that he drank an average of one bottle a day. Yet the shifting trends of the 20th century – from over-extraction to excessive use of oak – caused its former glory to fade, and by the time James Suckling and Stuart Pigott tasted young vintages from this estate in the late 1980s, the Höllenberg reds had been all but forgotten outside Germany.

The 1997 vintage falls within a period when Kloster Eberbach – like many top German estates – was in the process of rethinking its style and returning to its traditional strengths. The dry Spätlesediscussed here is not a ‘Große Gewächs’ in the modern sense, but a Prädikat wine bottling sourced from vines over 80 years old, whose grapes were hand-harvested from several plots on the Höllenberg. The ‘Spätlese’ designation does not refer to the sweetness – the wine is vinified as a dry wine – but to the late harvest of fully ripe grapes, which lend the wine a particular concentration and depth.

The 1997 vintage: A ‘magnificent year’ in the Rheingau

Information on this specific wine is scarce, but the few available references paint a consistent picture. A wine taster who managed to acquire half a bottle of a 1997 Assmannshäuser Höllenberg with the ‘Auslese’ classification (also vinified dry) at an auction described the vintage in retrospect as a ‘magnificent year’. The wine itself still bore the label featuring the ‘grim Prussian eagle’ – a detail that identifies the bottle as a bottling by the Hessian State Wineries from a time when this tradition was still upheld. This assessment is in line with the general reputation of the 1997 vintage in the Rheingau, which is regarded as solid and well-suited to long-lived red wines, even if it does not rank amongst the legendary ‘vintages of the century’ such as 1959 or 1990.

The sensory experience: a mature Pinot Noir of great depth and serenity

Tasting a bottle of this wine today, almost three decades after the harvest, is an experience of rare depth and complexity. The colour is likely – as is typical of mature Pinot Noirs – to be a medium to pale brick red with distinct orange highlights, a visual testament to its long ageing. The nose is the first major revelation of this wine. It will be dominated by the tertiary aromas typical of the Höllenberg : undergrowth, damp forest floor, tobacco and leather, underpinned by a ripe, concentrated fruitiness of plums, sour cherries and a hint of rock sugar. A tasting note for a comparable 1997 Höllenberg Pinot Noir describes animal notes, smoke, blood and ‘Dym’ (smoke) on the nose, whilst on the palate black berries with a pleasant acidity come to the fore. This description highlights the spicy, earthy and slightly animal-like complexity that characterises great, mature Pinot Noirs from the Höllenberg.

On the palate, the wine is likely to display medium body and a silky, velvety texture; the tannins are fully integrated and leave a soft, powdery impression. The acidity remains lively, lending the wine remarkable freshness and length, which prevent it from feeling heavy in any way – a legacy of the cool, steep vineyard site and the vintage. The aromas on the nose are echoed on the palate with great precision: ripe red berries, undergrowth, tobacco and a delicate mineral salinity blend into a harmonious whole. The finish is long and lingering, with a clean aftertaste of fruit, spice and a subtle mineral note. The wein.plus tasting note on a 1997 Höllenberg also praises a ‘robust and lingering’ palate with a ‘very good finish’. The dry Spätlese is characterised – in comparison to a semi-dry or sweet version – by its dry style, which brings the fruit and mineral structure to the fore and allows the sweetness to be merely hinted at as an integrated, warming component.

Drinking maturity and serving: A wine at a crossroads

The question of when a Pinot Noir that is almost thirty years old is ready to drink is of particular importance. The wine has undoubtedly left its youthful fruitiness behind and is now in a phase of full maturity, in which tertiary aromas dominate. The structure – the combination of lively acidity and soft tannins – suggests that the wine can still be enjoyed at a high standard for a few more years, though no further improvement is to be expected. Anyone lucky enough to own a well-stored bottle should therefore open it in the coming years to experience it in its current, complex splendour.

The serving recommendation is clear: the wine should be served at a temperature of 15 to 16 degrees Celsius to bring out its delicate aromas and structure to the full. Careful decanting for around 30 minutes before drinking can help to open up the complex aromas and separate any sediment. It is a perfect accompaniment to game fowl, braised beef, lamb or mature hard cheese – and it is a wine that deserves to be enjoyed on its own and at leisure, as a meditation on time and the unbroken power of a great terroir.

Conclusion: The quiet grandeur of an almost forgotten red wine marvel

The 1997 Assmannshäuser Höllenberg Pinot Noir Spätlese dry from Kloster Eberbach is not a wine that stands in the limelight. It is not a ‘Große Gewächs’ in today’s marketing-driven sense, nor is it hailed as a legend in every wine magazine. And yet it embodies a virtue that is often overlooked in today’s wine world: the quiet, enduring greatness of a wine that has emerged from one of Germany’s historically most significant red wine vineyards, the steadfast craftsmanship of a state-owned winery with a tradition stretching back almost nine hundred years, and a solid, long-lived vintage. It reminds us that German Pinot Noir has a past that could rival the great Burgundies – and that this past lives on in the present in bottles such as this one. Its greatness lies in its modesty – a quiet triumph of consistency and a worthy ambassador for the Höllenberg, the Rheingau and the centuries-old winemaking tradition of Eberbach Abbey.