Chat Sauvage Pinot Noir Lorcher Kapellenberg dry 2013

Chat Sauvage – Lorcher Kapellenberg Pinot Noir dry 2013

Introduction

The Chat Sauvage Lorcher Kapellenberg Pinot Noir dry 2013 is a single-vineyard wine from one of the coolest and most outstanding Pinot Noir sites in the Rheingau. The Chat Sauvage winery, a project specialising in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, has bottled a vintage with this wine that is praised for its cool elegance and structured minerality. The 2013 Kapellenberg is a characterful expression of the estate’s style – powerful and dense, yet with Burgundian finesse.

The Chat Sauvage Winery

The Chat Sauvage (‘wild cat’) wine-growing project was launched in 2000 by the Hamburg-based entrepreneur Günter Schulz and is now managed by the oenologist Verena Schöttle, who is responsible for both the vineyard operations and the cellar. The estate’s first wine was produced in 2001 from purchased Pinot Noir grapes; at the same time, Schulz acquired his own vineyards between Winkel and Lorch.

Using the proceeds from the auction of a large part of his Burgundy collection at Christie’s, Schulz financed the construction of a new winery, complete with a wine shop, in the heart of the vineyards in Johannisberg, which the estate moved into in 2010. The estate now comprises 8 hectares of vineyards with an annual production of around 25,000 bottles. Two-thirds of the vineyards are situated on steep slopes.

Chat Sauvage focuses entirely on Pinot Noir (four-fifths of the vineyard area) and Chardonnay. The wines are aged for eighteen months in French barriques and bottledwithout filtration. The estate’s style is characterised by intensity and extraction, which is particularly evident in cooler vintages such as 2013 or 2021.

The vineyards are situated in Assmannshausen’s Höllenberg, Rüdesheim’s Drachenstein, Lorch’s Kapellenberg, Lorch’s Schlossberg, Johannisberg’s Hölle, Dachsberg in Winkel and Assmannshausen’s Frankenthal. In its approach – with a focus on Burgundian grape varieties, ageing in French barriques and single-vineyard wines – Chat Sauvage is more reminiscent of an estate in Burgundy than a typical Rheingau winery.

The vineyard: Lorcher Kapellenberg

The Lorcher Kapellenberg lies above the village of Lorch in the western Rheingau and is one of the coolest vineyard sites in the region. The site is characterised by stony slate soils, cool winds and low yields, which lend the wines tension, minerality and complexity.

The sparse weathered slate and the cool microclimate result in a slow, even ripening of the grapes. Wines from the Kapellenberg typically display a stony, spicy character, notes of tobacco and blackberries, and a complex structure with good grip. The Kapellenberg is a VDP.GROSSE LAGE and ranks among the most renowned Pinot Noir sites in the Rheingau.

The 2013 vintage

The 2013 vintage was cool and challengingin the Rheingau . The growing season was characterised by a late spring and a cool summer, leading to a late harvest and low yields. The grapes reached moderate ripeness with high acidity and delicate aromas.

For Pinot Noir, 2013 was a vintage of structure and elegance. The wines display clear fruit, lively acidity and fine-grained tannins. Chat Sauvage, whose style is based on intensity and extraction, benefited from the vintage’smoderate ripeness and acidity – much like in later cool years such as 2021, which particularly suited the estate.

Winemaking and Style

Wine-making at Chat Sauvage follows the Burgundian model:

• Hand-harvesting of the grapes

• Spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts

• 18 months’ ageing in French barriques

• No filtration prior to bottling

• Single-vineyard wines are vinified separately to highlight the differences between the terroirs

The Lorcher Kapellenberg Pinot Noir 2013 bears the estate’s signature style: dark, dense fruit, smoky notes, pencil lead and light tobacco, paired with lively acidity. Chat Sauvage’s wines are broad-shouldered and powerful, yet with integrated tannins and subtle fruit notes.

Tasting notes

Falstaff (91 points, Ulrich Sautter, 17 February 2016)

“Reductive notes, almost petrol-like slate spice, Pinot berries, herbs. On the palate, very finely textured, yet powerfully dense and fruit-driven, with a subtle creaminess, yet also deeply mineral; mild but not flat acidity that provides structure, great length, great potential. Fine-grained tannins with depth but without harshness.”

This review highlights the wine’s complexity: a fine texture combined with a powerful density, fruit-driven and deeply mineral, with great length and fine-grained tannins. The mild, yet not flat, acidity underpins the wine and lends it structure and elegance.

Eichelmann (2024)

Eichelmann describes the estate’s style for cool vintages such as 2021, and thus also for 2013:

“The Pinot Noir from Lorch’s Kapellenberg displays notes of elderberries and heart cherries on the nose; it is clear, powerful and structured on the palate.”

Further classification

A tasting note describes a Chat-Sauvage Pinot Noir as “a very intense, yet light and, above all, not at all German Pinot Noir” – with dark, tart cherry fruit and moderate clarity. The 2013 Kapellenberg is likely to display similar characteristics: dark fruit, structured tannins and a Burgundian character that sets it apart from typical German Pinot Noirs.

Technical details

Serving and storage recommendations

• Serving temperature: 15–17 °C (Pinot Noir should not be served too cold)

• Optimal drinking window: 2018 to 2030 – the 2013 vintage has great potential and needs air to develop its aromas

• Decanting: At least 1–2 hours before serving, ideally in a carafe

• Food pairings: Excellent with game, beef, mushroom dishes and mature cheeses

• Storage: Stored horizontally at a constant temperature (12–14 °C) and high humidity

Assessment and conclusion

The Chat Sauvage Lorcher Kapellenberg Pinot Noir 2013 is a characterful single-vineyard wine from one of the coolest and most mineral-rich Pinot Noir sites in the Rheingau. The 2013 vintage produced wines with clear fruit, lively acidity and fine-grained tannins – characteristics that perfectly complement Chat Sauvage’sextractive style.

With 91 Falstaff points and described as ‘powerfully dense and fruit-driven’ whilst also possessing a‘fine texture’ and ‘deep minerality’, this wine demonstrates the tension and depth that characterise great Pinot Noirs from the Rheingau. The schist-driven spice, the Pinot berries and the herbal notes on the nose, together with the creamy texture on the palate, make this a complex and long-lived wine.

For lovers of structured, Burgundian-style Pinot Noirs, the 2013 Kapellenberg from Chat Sauvage is a highly recommended choice – a wine that combines power and elegance and still hasyears of ageing ahead of it.