We were having dinner at Zum Krug in Hattenheim in the Rheingau one Wednesday evening, when Josef Laufer Junior (Zum Krug’s excellent chef) flashed a bottle in front of us that looked suspiciously like Burgundy. “You really have to try this!” he said. Try it we did and next day we were rattling the gates of Chat Sauvage in Johannisberg. Gunter Schulz is from Hamburg, made his fortune in the construction trade and developed a bit of a Burgundy habit. An expensive DRC type habit (Domaine de la Romanee Conti, the most sought-after Burgundy there is). Given that DRC isn’t for sale and given that he didn’t want to leave Germany, he set up 27 year-old winemaker Michel Stadter with some excellent old vines and a brief for uncompromising quality. Unfiltered and unfined, we were startled by the style and polish of these Pinots from a region overwhelmingly known for its Riesling.
