Heinz Wagner – Sekt Brut Nature 2019
If you don’t expect to find vineyards in the Black Forest, you’d be absolutely right. There are no vineyards in the Black Forest. Nor is there anyone there called Heinz Wagner. But there is Maximilian Wagner, whose grandmother’s name was Hedwig Heinz and whose grandfather was a founding member of the Kallstädter Winzergenossenschaft. Maximilian Wagner, in turn, was previously co-founder of the well-known, inventive German vermouth brand Belsazar. In 2016, he launched the Heinz Wagner as a négoce style maison at an altitude of 777 metres in Sankt Blasien in the Black Forest.
Such suspiciously detailed founding stories are often a sign of neglected quality. Yet in the case of Heinz Wagner, there is a good amount of craftsmanship and strong sparkling wines to back up the storytelling. The cellar master – and since 2021 also the most important grape supplier – is Max Greiner, who also runs his own winery in Obereggen at the foot of the Black Forest. The grapes for the 2019 vintage come from Markgräflerland and Tuniberg, where Wagner buys grapes, must and base wine. Both regions are sub-regions of the Baden wine-growing region, which is internationally known primarily for the wines from the Kaiserstuhl. The other Baden sub-regions may fly somewhat under the radar, but many of them are currently developing very well.
The sparkling wine consists of 60 per cent Blanc de Pinot Noir and 40 per cent Chardonnay. The tirage took place in Sankt Blasien in early summer 2020. With both creamy and tart flavours, it has a wonderful neo-classical style: brioche, sweet cream butter, a bit of green apple and abate pear, good acidity, chalk, a bit of hay, tarragon and a delicate tannic finish. At currently €23.90, you get a lot of champagne vibes for little money.
In 2019, the base wines were vinified a little differently. Much more than today, they bought ready-made base wines, which the suppliers vinified according to their own styles. Since 2022, Wagner and Greiner have only been buying must and grapes for the white sparkling wine – mostly from Greiner’s vineyards in Obereggen – and ferment all the base wines themselves in wooden barrels without fining and without selected yeasts. The rosé, which is a little lighter but also very exciting and independent, still consists partly of bought base wines that ferment in stainless steel with selected yeasts. “This suits the rosé well anyway,” explains Max Greiner.
I am very curious how the sekts from Greiner’s self-fermented base wines, which are still ripening sur lattes, will develop. If the sparkling wines based on quite generic base wines are already so impressive, you can expect something outstanding here. Perhaps Germany’s highest sekt maison will also be one of the best.
