The Top 2 Bottlings in 2022 of Cult Producer Enderle & Moll
– Among the Hardest to Get Wines in Germany
– Perhaps Our Most Distinctive Pinot Noirs
– These Wines Can Be Pure Magic
2022 Enderle & Moll Muschelkalk
2022 Enderle & Moll Buntsandtstein
For Those of You Who Do Not Know…
These wines have been sold to a limited list of buyers for the last few years so many of you will not have heard of them. Enderle & Moll has been THE cult pinot noir producer in Germany for around a decade. The single soil wines that we are selling today are almost impossible to get in Germany. They are on the “Best Customers Only” list at top restaurants. They are among the top pinot noirs in Germany and I’ve had bottles that were pure magic. Because of the low intervention style of the winery, these wines are among the most distinctive wines that we sell.
We are selling these for spring pickup as we need to buy them now or they will all be gone.
2022 Vintage
I spoke to Florian earlier and he gave me the details on the 2022 vintage, having recently tasted the wines. Overall, the year was very balanced and rather dry and warm, but there was still enough precipitation here in Münchweier so that the vines were never exposed to too much drought or moisture. From the middle of August, the nights became a little cooler, so that the wines also have a very nice acidic structure. They were not only able to get grapes of high quality and optimal ripeness into the cellar, but also the a decent amount of them.
2022 Enderle & Moll Muschelkalk – $51.99 NET
2022 Enderle & Moll Buntsandtstein – $51.99 NET
A Stroll Down Memory Lane
The 2022s will be the 11th vintage of the E & M Grand Crus we’ve worked with so it’s time for a little stroll down memory lane, because without Enderle & Moll there would be no Fass Selections Spätburgunder portfolio. With the 2011 vintage we started with the lark that we might successfully be able to sell Pinot Noir based on the strength of a tasting me an my partner did at Steinmetz’s winery in Brauneberg in 2012. Sven drove up from Baden and wound up sleeping in his van that night. We had a long dinner and tasted the 2011/2010 and 2009 Grand Crus all out of magnum. They were transcendent wines and it was perhaps the most important tasting of my life now looking back at it.
Before this tasting I, along with most people in the wine business, thought German Pinot was a joke. Oaky as all can be and underripe was the consensus. But tasting these wines with Sven Enderle I soon found out they were ethereal expressions of old vine Pinot Noir from limestone and sandstone soils made in a natural style with character only found in the top Burgundies. I couldn’t believe it.
We knew that but we also knew it was going to be an uphill battle to convince clients that German Pinot was worth buying and that it’s an affordable back door route to incredible Burgundy experiences.
There was no wine in Germany like these before. When 2013 hit, the Grand Crus had finally arrived in my opinion. This was a ripe, deep and complex vintage and Liaison and the Grand Crus were stunning and had a common thread that ran throughout them. For me they had arrived but this was let’s call it a pre arrival. Then comes 2014 which was a classic vintage in all respects. 14 in Baden is like 14 in Red Burgundy. Maybe the last classic vintage of our lifetimes. Who knows but there hasn’t been a vintage like 14 since. Crunchy, linear and fresh. A massive departure from the grandiosity of 13. The 14s were also the last vintage that went to the whole list.
Then 2015 happened. This was the 1982 Bordeaux, 1999 Red Burgundy and 2001 German Riesling for German Pinot Noir. 2015 was a rousing success all across Germany but especially at Enderle and Moll. Full ripeness, majesty, depth and lushness were some of the hallmarks of the wines. I will never forget tasting these out of barrel with Sven. I tasted the 2015 Bundstanstein and was blown away and saying it was the greatest German Pinot I’ve ever had. And Sven calmly said you haven’t tasted the Muschelkalk yet. I have never been happier in my life to be wrong. The 2015 Muschelkalk was god juice. Best barrel sample of Pinot Noir I’ve ever had. We sold those briskly eventually and the acclaim started to really come in and now we never have enough and people recognize the two E & M Grand Crus as two of the greatest expressions of Pinot Noir in the world. Yes the world.
Now we have 2022 and I have to sell them today. The track record is undisputed at this point and I have zero hesitation at this point to sell these before I’ve tasted them.
I won’t have enough for all of you sadly but that’s the way it goes. They will be allocated and I’ll do my best but if there is any saving grace by me saying “sadly I’m sold out” is that without E & M none of you would have Thorle / Spater-Veit / Ziereisen / Max Geitlinger / Josef Walter and more. E & M walked so they could run. They are a core producer and I’m honored this is the 11th vintage we’ve worked together and I hope we can work together for 11 more.
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 after emailing with your firstorder if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
OFFICE HOURS 4-7 PM
I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday.
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