WongAmat by Jan Raumland – Kriegsheimer Rosengarten Pinot Noir dry 2023

WongAmat by Jan Raumland – Kriegsheimer Rosengarten Pinot Noir dry 2023: A quiet masterpiece straddling two worlds

There are wines that are more than just a drink. They are the audible pulse of a region, a winemaker’s uncompromising signature and a time capsule for a specific moment in the vineyard. The 2023 Kriegsheimer Rosengarten Pinot Noir dry, produced by Jan Wongse Raumland under the WongAmat label , is such a wine – and at the same time a fascinating record of a very personal story. It comes from a winemaker whose life story is as unusual as his career path: Jan Wongse Raumland, born in Bonn to a Thai father and a German mother, grew up in Siefersheim in Rheinhessen from the age of six, surrounded by vines, and discovered wine through the catering industry and his career as a sommelier. His label , WongAmat, pays homage to his Thai family; it is a contraction of the name Wongse-Amatyakul, which in South-East Asia stands for exceptional craftsmanship and social commitment. Tasting a bottle of this wine is no ordinary encounter with a German Pinot Noir, but a journey into the quiet grandeur of a vineyard site that ranks among the most exciting terroirs in Rheinhessen, and into the work of a winemaker who has translated the influences of his apprenticeship with Emrich-Schönleber and Klaus-Peter Keller into his own distinctive project.

The vineyard: Kriegsheimer Rosengarten – a warm terroir with Rotliegend strata

To understand this wine, one must first understand the vineyard from which it comes. The Kriegsheimer Rosengarten is a vineyard in the far north of Rheinhessen, on the border with the Palatinate, and is also known as the Monsheimer Rosengarten. The vineyards face south and are characterised by a level of warmth that is exceptional for the region: the Rotliegend soil , interspersed with gravel and iron deposits, stores the sun’s heat particularly efficiently and warms up more quickly than other vineyards in the area. This barren, mineral-rich geology forces the vines to develop deep roots and lends the wines their distinctive structure and spicy minerality. The plot from which the WongAmat Rosengarten originates covers just 0.31 hectares and was planted with Pinot Noir in 2001 – a remarkably small and young plot for the region, which Jan Raumland, however, cultivates with the utmost care. This focus on a microscopically small area allows for a level of selection and manual labour that would be virtually impossible on larger estates.

The philosophy: between intuition and logic

With WongAmat, Jan Wongse Raumland pursues a philosophy that deliberately breaks away from the conventions of German viticulture. He works 100 per cent organically, inspired by agroforestry, regenerative agriculture and biodynamic approaches, without, however, submitting to a dogmatic set of rules. His credo is: “No two days are the same in nature, so there is no set formula.” He describes vinification as a interplay between intuition and logic, between fire and water. This approach is already evident in the vineyard: Jan trains the vines higher than usual (1.1 to 1.3 metres), covers the rows of vines entirely with vegetation to cool the microclimate and promote biodiversity, and reduces the canopy to just 70 centimetres to minimise water loss through transpiration and slow down ripening – an approach that gives the grapes more time to develop aromas and absorb minerals, resulting in wines with greater extract.

Vinification: Craftsmanship with the utmost care

Wine-making follows a protocol that is as precise as it is gentle. The grapes are harvested in the coolest hours of the morning and rigorously selected – only fully ripe berries with crisp fruit and vibrancy make it into fermentation. The grapes are destemmed very carefully and processed at a cool temperature to avoid any unwanted extraction. After a two-day resting period, the berries are crushed barefoot – a method Jan describes as a way of connecting with the fermentation process and imparting natural energy and body heat to the wine. The subsequent steps are carried out by gravity. After around ten days, pressing takes place to preserve the fruit. The free-run juice and the pressed juice are transferred separately to stainless steel tanks, where they are fully fermented. Once fermentation is complete, the wine is transferred to barriques and topped up continuously. In November of the following year – some 14 months after the harvest – the wines are blended in stainless steel tanks, lightly sulphured and bottled in December – an early bottling designed to preserve the fruit and ensure a cool bottle temperature. The alcohol content is a moderate 12 per cent – a remarkably restrained figure for a Pinot Noir of this concentration, which underlines the wine’s balanced, terroir-driven style.

The sensory experience: a mosaic of fruit, spice and cool minerality

Tasting a bottle of the WongAmat Kriegsheimer Rosengarten 2023 today is an experience of rare depth and complexity. The colour is a luminous ruby red – a visual indication of the wine’s concentration and youthful vitality. The nose is the first major revelation of this wine. The tasting notes for the immediate predecessor vintage, 2022 – which was produced under similar conditions and therefore provides valuable insights into the profile of the 2023 vintage – describe a bouquet of intense, spicy and leafy aromas, with red and dark cherries, green leaves and rosewood, conveying an almost Mediterranean yet also alpine impression, without showing any signs of overripeness. This description suggests a wine that combines the warmth of a rose garden with a cool, spicy freshness – a duality typical of great Pinot Noirs. Another report adds notes of ripe red and black fruits, dark blossoms, sweet spices and mineral hints.

The true greatness of this wine unfolds on the palate. The attack is silky, fresh and elegant, with a lively acidity that carries the wine and lends it remarkable freshness and length. The texture is velvety and dense, with fine tannins that lend the wine structure without making it seem harsh or astringent. The fruit is concentrated and juicy, and the wine possesses an intense yet never overpowering presence. One taster described the 2022 vintage as ‘a concentrated, firm and juicy, very intense Pinot Noir with fine and firm tannins and a good, palate-cleansing finish’. The finish is deep and lingering, with an aftertaste of fruit, spice and a salty minerality. The tannins are present but finely woven, giving the wine the backbone for several years’ development.

The ratings and their context

The ratings for WongAmat’s wines reflect the growing recognition that Jan Wongse Raumland enjoys in the wine world. The Wine Advocate awarded the 2022 Rosengarten‘ ’ 92 points and described it as a “concentrated, firm and juicy, very intense Pinot Noir” with “fine and firm tannins” and a “good, palate-cleansing finish”. The wine is described as a “dense, firm and spicy gastronomic Pinot with more pronounced tannins, a certain greenness and a slightly drying finish” – a characterisation that underlines its suitability as a food companion and sets it apart from the more seductive, seamless Bürgel from the same producers. The CellarTracker community has already recorded a score of 94 points for the 2023 vintage based on initial tastings, and the 2022 vintage is also listed there with an average of 92.2 points from 15 notes. This range of high ratings shows that WongAmat’s Rosengarten is a wine that can be perceived very differently depending on the bottle, storage conditions and personal taste, but which consistently impresses at the very highest level.

Drinking maturity and ageing potential: A wine for the coming years

The question of when the WongAmat Rosengarten 2023 is ready to drink is particularly relevant today, three years after the harvest. The wine is still young and impetuous, and the experts’ recommendations paint a unanimous picture: it needs time. The tannins are still present, the fruit is in a primary, aromatic phase, and the acidity lends the wine a firm structure. Anyone lucky enough to own a bottle should therefore store it patiently – under optimal conditions (cool, dark and vibration-free) , the wine will gain in complexity over the next five to ten years, allowing the mineral depth of the Rotliegend and the spicy herbal notes to emerge ever more clearly. 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 to 45 minutes before drinking can help to open up the complex aromas and further soften the tannins – particularly whilst the wine is still young. It is a perfect accompaniment to wild 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 enduring power of a great terroir.

Conclusion: The quiet grandeur of a personal project

The WongAmat by Jan Raumland Kriegsheimer Rosengarten Pinot Noir dry 2023 is not a wine that takes centre stage. It is not a ‘Große Lage’ in the marketing-driven sense, celebrated as a legend in every wine magazine, and it is available only in vanishingly small quantities – a rare bottling from a plot of just 0.31 hectares, reserved primarily for connoisseurs and collectors. And yet it embodies a virtue that is often overlooked in today’s wine world: the quiet, enduring greatness of a wine from one of Rheinhessen’s most exciting vineyards, the steadfast craftsmanship of a winemaker who has translated the influences of his apprenticeship with Emrich-Schönleber and Klaus-Peter Keller into his own distinctive project, and has produced a vintage that combines warmth and ripeness with precise structure. It is the result of a fortunate combination of Rotliegend soil with gravel and iron, a plot planted in 2001, and a vinification process characterised by barefoot pressing, gravity and early bottling. It reminds us that true class is not always expressed through spectacular opulence or a famous name, but often in the ability to develop its own subtle and deeply satisfying character under the conditions of the times. Its greatness lies in its modesty – a quiet triumph of consistency and a worthy ambassador for the Kriegsheimer Rosengarten, Rheinhessen and the personal story of a winemaker who translates his Thai and German roots into a new, exciting language of wine.