Dade’s 2010 Travel Log: Bassermann-Jordan (Deidesheim/Pfalz)

On April 22nd, we had the honor of visiting, for the first time, one of Germany’s greatest and most venerable estates, Bassermann-Jordan, located in the village of Deidesheim in the Pfalz.

Gunther Hauck of Bassermann-Jordan

We’ve last carried these wines in late ’90s when we were able to direct import them for a couple of years. They recently became “available” once again for direct import, so we made the pilgrimage to Deidesheim, and were generously received by the estate’s director, Gunther Hauck.  He lead us through the vast, most impressive cellars that contain wines going back to the 19th century as well as a cellar consisting of wines from other countries all over the globe, also going back to the late 19th/early 20th century! (There are all sorts of other fascinating wine-related artifacts throughout the cellars that are not to be missed!)

The 1811 Vintage, in quiet repose.

In total, they own a daunting 48 hectares (in excess of 100 acres) of vines planted to only the finest sites in all the Pfalz from Deidesheim, Forst and Ruppertsberg. Production levels are held to a modest average of 45 hectolitres per hectar, and annual total case production is about 35,000. After having recently lost our only source of Pfalz wines (Müller-Catoir), we felt it was important to have representation in that region, so their availability for import was fortuitous for both of us.

Definitely neutral oak!

Overall quality was very consistent throughout the range of dry and fruity wines we were shown, but the estate has long made a world-renowned reputation from the production of some of the world’s greatest late harvest Rieslings. I have personally had the pleasure of tasting 1893 and 1900 Forster Jesuitengarten Trockenbeerenauslesen that were so incredibly fresh and uncannily vibrant that I would have guessed they were wines that had been produced in the ’50s or ’60s!

These utterly timeless treasures once again prove that Riesling is king of all grape varietals when it comes to longevity.

Dade

P.S. Click for more photos from our recent visit to Bassermann-Jordan on our Facebook page.

To see all of our wines from Bassermann-Jordan (including a 1893 Auslese!), enter keyword “bassermann” in the UPPER LEFT search box