Friedrich Becker, Rotweincuvée Guillaume, 2007

The subject of German red wine would certainly deserve a whole series of postings, for instance making the point that there is a lot of it (about a third of all grapes grown in Germany are red) and that it is not just wine of a lighter type. For today I leave the wider context aside and focus on a wine that is an example of a more substantial type German red, a blend of different varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon and Dornfelder. Winemaker Friedrich Becker is a well known specialist for red wine, with the red wine cuvée Guillaume being one of the cheaper wines from a range that can be quite pricey (just recently I saw one of his premier Pinot Noirs in a Munich department store for around a hundred Euro).

The colour of the wine is a deep and shiny ruby-red; in fact it is so intense that some of my international drinking companions expressed surprise that such a wine could be made in Germany. The nose is intense too, featuring vanilla, marinates cherries, blackcurrant and sausage; Denise described it as 'a bit Pinotage-y', and I am not sure if this was entirely a compliment.

'Guillaume' is also quite substantial on the tongue, a savoury wine that tasted smoky, almost like bacon, with a medium to long finish leaning a little more on the fruityside (still dry though), featuring more currant. The tannins were already quite well integrated. Even so, I liked it better on the second day when it had opened up a little more (adding, for instance, more herbal power) and appeared more balanced.

A surprisingly fruity and intense wine that did not blow me away (I prefer a different style) but that no doubt delivers good value and can be recommend to anyone interested in accessible, savoury German red wine beyond Pinot Noir.