While my parents were over here for a long weekend before Christmas, my father and I cycled over into Germany to get some wines for the festive period from Weingut Schneider in Weil. (Don’t worry, no smuggling was involved; the duty-free limit for Switzerland was recently raised to five litres per person, so we took back six bottles each.) For red, we chose their Spätburgunder “CS” 2013 – a lovely Pinot Noir by anyone’s standards. More about that one at a later date. For white, we opted for the entry-level Weissburgunder from 2013. As Susanne Hagin-Schneider said to us, this wine is now the finished article. By this, she meant that a couple of years in bottle had rounded the wine. Its counterpart from 2015 betrayed a bit of youthful clumsiness in comparison.

Claus and Johannes Schneider, Weiler Weisser Burgunder 2013 trocken, Baden
Notice the ‘Weiler’ in the name? This is the same sort of labelling that you see for Ortswein (the VDP equivalent of villages level in Burgundy). I wonder whether the Schneiders are on the radar of the local Baden VDP? Frankly, they should be.

Pale straw with almost greyish-greenish hints. Salty on the nose at first, then peach, brioche and maybe some starfruit come to the fore. This, in itself, is more expressive than when I last tasted this wine in summer 2015. Back then, the wine’s true character was probably concealed a little under notes of crushed stone (or was it crushed bone?). Yet, nothing is loud. Overall, the impression is of purity and elegance. On the palate, there is a a touch of pithy starfruit bitterness on the one hand; on the other, an ever-so-slight nuttiness along with salty notes that end in a mouth-watering, fresh finish. While the wine remains on the light side of medium-bodied, it possesses plenty of grip and length. Good stuff.