Weingut Friedrich Becker - Pinot Noir 'HEYDENREICH" dry 2015 MAGNUM 1500ml

Friedrich Becker Winery – Pinot Noir ‘HEYDENREICH’ dry 2015

General information

Origin & Winemaking

The ‘Heydenreich’ is the undisputed flagship wine of the Friedrich Becker winery and comes from an exclusive monopole vineyard in Schweigen on the German-French border. This ‘Große Lage’, covering just one hectare, consists of pure limestone with a 25–50 cm thick layer of loose topsoil – a terroir that lends the wines exceptional mineral precision and elegance.

The Friedrich Becker winery has been family-run for generations and is one of Germany’s most renowned wine producers. The winemaking process for the Heydenreich is carried out with the utmost care: 18 months’ ageing in small barriques made from German and French oak, bottledunfined and unfiltered. The 2015 vintage was described by Stephan Reinhardt (Robert Parker) as “deep, concentrated, clear and fresh”.

Tasting notes

Falstaff (96 points – 2018 tasting)

“Mineral-tinged sweet cherry, moss, mint, Assam pepper; on the palate, a dense concentration of the finest tannins, juiciness, ripe acidity and mineral sensations. It will mature into brilliant elegance and has, in fact, already achieved it.”

Weinfurore.de

“Friedrich Becker’s top Pinot Noir bears the name Heydenreich and presents itself on the nose as the most delicate of the single-vineyard wines. Subtle fruit with a hint of plum, no toasty notes or wood detectable, a cool, almost vegetal hint, still somewhat closed and very refined. On the palate, it has a robust structure, extremely juicy acidity that almost comes across with a hint of citrus and brings intense chalky minerality; vibrant and taut, very complex and lively.”

Robert Parker (94/100 – Stephan Reinhardt)

“The 2015 Heydenreich Spätburgunder GG is deep, concentrated, clear and fresh on the spicy, beautifully intense and alluring nose, which displays aromas of dark cherries and berries with thick skins. Pure, fresh and mineral on the palate, the Heydenreich has great tension and concentration as well as great vitality and length. A great German Pinot!”

Summary of Aromas

The nose is dominated by mineral-tinged sweet cherry, dark berries, plum, moss, mint and Assam pepper – with a complete absence of toasty notes or intrusive oak. On the palate, there is a dense, robust structure with tannins of the utmost finesse, extreme juiciness, ripe acidity and intense chalky minerality. The wine comes across as vibrant, taut and lively – conveying a sense of great tension and concentration.

Reviews (selection)

Drinking maturity & ageing potential

The 2015 Heydenreich was describedas still somewhat closed and possessing a stunning structure. The recommended optimal drinking window begins in 2021 and extends until 2031. Currently (2026) , the wine is in an excellent drinking phase, but still has plenty of potential for many more years – Falstaff attested as early as 2018 that it possessed a “brilliant elegance” which it “actually already” has.

Conclusion

The Friedrich Becker Pinot Noir ‘HEYDENREICH’ dry 2015 is the flagship wine of one of Germany’s finest Pinot Noir producers. From the exclusive Heydenreich monopole vineyard on pure limestone comes a wine of breathtaking density, mineral precision and great elegance.

With top ratings of 100 points from James Suckling, 96 points from Falstaff and 94 points from Robert Parker, this wine stands on a par with the world’s great Burgundies. The 18-month ageing in barriques, the gentle, unfiltered bottling and the unique limestone terroir combine to create a Pinot Noir of world-class calibre.

For lovers of great Pinot Noirs, the Heydenreich is an absolute benchmark – a wine that is already a great pleasure to drink, but which can also be left to mature for years to come. Anyone who has the opportunity should definitely taste this once-in-a-century wine from the Palatinate.