“German Pinot Noir is one of the most underappreciated wine categories,” says Jenna Fields, the president of the German Wine Collection, a California-based importer.
Indeed, because the grape is often overshadowed by Riesling, people don’t realize that Germany is the third largest producer of Pinot Noir in the world, only trailing behind France and the U.S. Cultivation within Germany purportedly goes back about 1,100 years. Today, plantings account for about 11% of Germany’s total vineyard area, or about 12,000 hectares (almost 30,000 acres)—making it the most widely planted red grape in the country.
The German word for Pinot Noir is Spätburgunder, translating to “late” (spät), referring to the grape’s later ripening
