Spätburgunder grapes
Spätburgunder is an extremely popular red wine grape variant belonging to the Vitisvinifera specie. Spätburgunder is one of the world’s most charismatic grape varieties, and one of the hardest and the costliest to get because of the high demand of the grape.
This grape makes one of the red wines in the world. This grape grown in Germany is one of the most grown varieties in the world with Germany occupying the third spot. In Germany itself, the area under Spätburgunder cultivation is almost 12000 hectares.
Spätburgunder grapes are mostly grown in the cooler climes of the world and are chiefly associated with the Burgundy region of France.
These grapes were brought to Germany from the French region of Burgundy in the 14th century and from there, it just grown on, to become the best grape variants of Germany.
Spätburgunder grape variants are also, one of the primary ingredients used in the production of sparkling wines, not only in the Champagne region, but across the wine regions of the world.
Spätburgunder Regions
Spätburgunder variants of grapes occupy around 117,000 hectares (290,000 acres) of plantation land worldwide. These plantation lands happen to be in the following regions of the following countries:
- Nuits St. Georges, Morey St. Denis, Vougeot, FlagneyEchezeaux, GevreyChambertin, , ChambolleMusigny, AloxeCorton, VosneRomanee regions of France roughly accupying around 75,760 acres of land
- Sta Rita Hills, Santa Lucia Highlands, Sonoma, , Willamette Valley regions of United states roughly occupying 73,600 acres of land
- Pfalz, Rheinhessen, Württemberg, Baden regions of Germany roughly occupying 29,049 acres of land
- Central Otago , Martinborough, Marlborough regions of New Zealand roughly occupying 10,648 acres of land
- Veneto, Alto Adige, Fruili regions of Italy roughly occupying 10,082 acres of land
- Victoria region of Australia roughly occupying 8,693 acres of land
- Maipu Valley, Casablanca Valley, Limari Valley, Central Valley regions of Chile roughly occupying 7,127 acres of land
- Rio Negro region of Argentina roughly occupying 4,450 acres of land
- Stellenbosch, Walker Bay,Western Cape region of South Africa roughly occupying 2,520 acres of land
Spätburgunder Wine Characteristics
The Pinot Grape variants produce one of the finest wines in the world. The only problem with this grape variant is, it is extremely challenging to cultivate it and transform it into wine.
These grape variants tend to develop in tightly packed clusters, which make it extremely susceptible to several viti-cultural hazards which include rotting, and hence these grape variants require proper canopy management.
In general, these grape variants are weak, with them suffering from a lot of diseases. The genetics of this grape also makes it highly susceptible to mutation.
Spätburgunder Wine taste and flavours
The fruity notes associated with Spätburgunder wines include cherry, raspberry and cranberry. The earthy, vegetable and herbal or floral notes associated with Spätburgunder wines include tobacco, cola, caramel, clove, licorice, mushroom, vanilla and wet leaves.
This wine, when aged for long, tends to give out the French Oak barrel flavour. As far as tannin level is concerned, it is medium low, with medium high levels of acidity.
This wine needs to be aged for 2-18 years, depending on the style it is prepared in. As far as temperature to be served at is concerned, it should ideally be 17 degrees Celsius or 63 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spätburgunder Food Pairing
Spätburgunder is a wine which goes well with almost all food types. This wine really blends well with French and German cuisine.
Spätburgunder is supposed to be had with Soft Cheeses and nutty medium cheeses like Comté. In fact, Comté (also called as Gruyère de Comté) and Spätburgunder can form a perfect cheese and a wine pair.
This wine goes well with grilled and roasted veggies and they taste better when they are had along with a mild sauce.
Michael Bredahl
Wine Writer
Michael is an online enthusiast, with a lot of knowledge about online marketing. Traveling around the world to hunt for the perfect wine. Latest on Sicily, where Etna has a huge impact on the taste, which is strong with a bitter aftertaste for the youngest wines, but older wines are fantastic. Drinking wine, and writing about them, are one the passions. Remember to drink responsibly 🙂
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