The land

The Pfalz (formerly the Rhine Palatinate) sits in southwestern Germany, just north of Alsace. It is the second-largest wine region in Germany by acreage and the sunniest — the Haardt mountains to the west shelter the vineyards from Atlantic weather, producing a notably warm and dry climate. The soils are varied — loess, sandstone, limestone, basalt — and produce some of Germany’s most stylistically diverse wines. The two greatest village clusters are the Mittelhaardt (around Forst, Deidesheim, Wachenheim, Ruppertsberg, and Königsbach) and the Südliche Weinstrasse (the southern half, increasingly serious in the last two decades).

The grapes

Riesling is the dominant noble grape, particularly in the Mittelhaardt. But the Pfalz is also Germany’s most important red-wine region — Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Dornfelder are widely planted, and serious red wine is now made here at a level that rivals Burgundy. Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) and Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) are also significant whites.

Style of the wines

Pfalz Riesling tends to be the fullest-bodied and ripest of the German classical regions — more body, more alcohol (12-13% routine for trocken Riesling), more textural weight. Yellow apple, ripe peach, citrus, smoke, sometimes a slightly oily texture. Mittelhaardt Spätburgunder (especially from producers like Friedrich Becker, Knipser, Bernhart, and Ökonomierat Rebholz) is some of the most age-worthy Pinot Noir made outside Burgundy.

Vintages to know

2022 — outstanding. 2018 — generous. 2015 — exceptional.

Producers we know

Müller-Catoir, Reichsrat von Buhl, Bürklin-Wolf, Dr. Bürklin-Wolf, Ökonomierat Rebholz, Knipser (especially the red wines), Friedrich Becker (Pinot Noir), Bernhart, Wegeler, Pfeffingen.