Felix Peters, Pinot Noir "Roche Calcaire" 2018

Almost exactly three years ago, in August 2017, when he was still winemaker at St. Antony in Nierstein, Felix Peters decided on a mountain tour to the Grossglockner (Austria) to found his own wine estate. "It should be small and only cultivate first-class vineyard sites," he said. His domain is called F. & F. Peters and sees itself as an artisan winery. "It has a small structure, so I can afford it and live my ideas here." But wine estate? The domain is rather an open garage in Nierstein with a small vaulted cellar underneath, which houses Peters' wines, tanks and barrels. The domain belongs exclusively to him, his wife and his children, and he is proud to be able to build it up in the first generation without anyone talking him into it. Previously, in case you have forgotten, Peters was the farmhand at St. Antony in Nierstein and has made the estate a top address in Rheinhessen over the years, not only for Riesling but also Pinot Noir and Blaufränkisch. Today Peters manages 4.2 hectares of vines in the best sites of the so-called Roter Hang (red slope) in Nierstein that includes Riesling crus such as Schloss Schwabsburg, Orbel, Hipping and Ölberg, Flörsheim-Dalsheim and Mölsheim (Schwarzer Herrgott, Zellertal). The first vintage of the Nierstein Paterberg Pinot Noir is growing right now.

Felix Peter's Pinot Noir style is built on the fruit, beautifully energetic and represents the irrepressible freshness from the cool Zellertal. The village of Mölsheim is located in southern Rheinhessen and offers limestone marl soils with a high content of clay and stones. "These are perfect conditions for Pinots with tension and liveliness," finds Peters, and in fact, his worst is still an excellent red wine.

Peters picks his Pinot Noir early and ferments the must with 40% to 50% whole clusters in open wooden vats from Burgundy. The cuvaison (the time the Pinot is on the skins/on the mash) is kept short. After pressing, the young wine is aged in 228-liter piéces from Burgundy for 12-14 months, with only 5% to 10% new wood. After the soutirage (racking), the wine is aged for another 2-3 months in stainless steel tanks. All of the Pinots are bottled unfiltered.

The Rieslings are sourced from the center of the Rote Hang in Nierstein yet in the cooler parts of this red clay slate formation from the Rotliegendes age. The first release of the Nierstein Roter Schiefer shows the distinctive mineral complexity of the unique terroir and makes me wonder how the crus will show, i.e. the Orbel, Felix Peter's heartbreak cru."

Stephan Reinhardt 92 Punkte

Quelle: www.robertparker.com