Philipp Kuhn, Incognito, 2008
Is there any wine that feels truly like Easter? I have been pondering this question for a while in order to pick the most suitable wine review to publish today - but I have failed miserably. For me every year Easter feels different, and every day of Easter feels different and stands for something else. Good Friday officially would be about loss, death and most importantly sacrifice, but I am not sure I'd enjoy a wine that tastes like this nor does today actually have any resemblance to these feelings.
So with Easter being so elusive I have decided to write about the most elusive wine I have tasted recently: Philipp Kuhn's "Incognito".
Even that does not feel quite right as there is nothing elusive about this wine from the Pfalz (Palatinate) region of Germany as such. It has a great presence and is very clear about what it aims to be. Still there is a touch of mystery as Philipp does not want to share what went into the wine:
Like famous chefs de cuisine, vintners too have their secret preferences. This cuvée wine consists of various national and international red wine grape varieties. However, they do not want to reveal their identity; they want to remain INCOGNITO.
It may be that the grape varieties used vary every year, or if they don't even the wine merchants who offer this wine cannot seem to agree what actually went into each vintage. This one, I am reasonably confident, was made from "international" Merlot and "German" Dornfelder, a reasonably robust, fruity and dark variety. Incognito, that much is certain, was aged for 15 months in used French oak barrels, which is clearly noticeable in both the smooth finish with its touch of soft oak and the aromatic wood and cocoa aromas in the bouquet. The Incognito also smells of fresh herbs, ripe cherry, red berries and in particular currant. The medium-bodied Incognito also tastes of lovely fruit, its fresh and charmingly well-rounded and just goes down very easily, without being simplistic.
This is a reasonably priced wine for every day (at least the every day of the discerning drinker who is not prepared to sacrifice quality) and left me in a very jolly mood. If that suits your Easter I don't know, but it works for me!