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Holger Koch

Spätburgunder Kaiserstuhl 2019

Price: $27.95
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Tasting notes

This is Pinot Noir with the weight of a Burgundy village wine and the freshness of a cool-climate red — sour cherry, a whisper of clove and white tobacco, and clean, mouthwatering acidity that makes the glass empty faster than expected. The 35-year-old loess-rooted vines in Bickensohl deliver concentration without heaviness, and the 14-day maceration in large wooden casks keeps the tannins fine-grained rather than grippy.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
Sour CherryRed CurrantCloveWhite Tobacco
  • Style: Dry, light-bodied red; clear ruby; sour cherry, red currant, clove, white tobacco; 13% ABV
  • Grapes & Terroir: 100% Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir); 55% Baden clones, 45% Burgundian selection massale; 35-year-old vines; loess soils; 240m elevation; Bickensohl, Kaiserstuhl, Baden
  • Winemaking: Indigenous yeast fermentation; 14-day maceration in 3,000L wooden casks; 9 months aging in 3,000L wooden casks; no fining, no filtration; practicing organic
  • Serving: Serve at 57-60°F; 20-30 min light chill if storing at room temperature; no extended decant needed
  • Pairing: Roast chicken, duck confit, pork charcuterie, jambon persillé, soft-rind cheese, salmon with lentils
  • Similar To: For fans of village-level Burgundy, Sancerre Rouge, or lighter expressions of Pinot Noir from Alsace

This Spätburgunder comes from 35-year-old vines grown on loess soils at around 240 meters elevation in Bickensohl, one of the higher-lying villages in the Kaiserstuhl. The grapes sit at the entry level of Holger Koch's Burgundy-inspired hierarchy, where loess-dominant soils deliver fruit-forward, approachable wines with clear structure. The blend draws on both local Baden clones and selection massale cuttings from Burgundy and Alsace, in roughly a 55/45 split.

In the cellar, fermentation proceeds with indigenous yeast in 3,000-liter wooden casks with 14 days of maceration. The wine then ages nine months in those same large-format casks with no fining or filtration. The result is dry, precise, and light on its feet — sour cherry and red currant on the nose, a thread of clove and white tobacco spice, and clean acidity that keeps it lively through the finish.

Holger Koch has farmed organically since the estate was established, dropping formal certification after 2014 due to administrative burden but maintaining the same practices: no herbicides or synthetic fertilizers, cover crop seeding, and hand harvesting. The estate covers roughly 7.5 hectares of terraced vineyards around Bickensohl, all worked with low intervention in the cellar.

At 13% ABV, this is a red built for the table rather than the cellar. Serve it slightly cool — around 57 to 60°F — to keep the red fruit crisp and the tannins in check.

Works well alongside roast chicken, duck confit, or salmon with a pinot-friendly preparation like lentils or mushrooms. The acidity handles pork chops and charcuterie with ease — try it with a board of jambon persillé or saucisson. Soft cheeses like Brie or young Comté won't fight the wine's delicacy.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir)
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2019
Alcohol:, 13%
Country:, Germany
Region:, Baden
Appellation:, Baden QbA
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

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If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Holger Koch

Holger Koch took over his family's estate in Bickensohl in 1999 after working as cellar master at Franz Keller in Oberbergen and as an intern at Château Canon la Gaffelière in Saint-Émilion. He runs the estate with his wife Gabriele Engesser. Since taking over, he reduced the estate from nine to approximately 7.5 hectares, focusing exclusively on dry Pinot varieties: Spätburgunder, Grauburgunder, Weißburgunder, and Chardonnay.

In the early 2000s Koch replaced the existing German Spätburgunder vines with selection massale cuttings sourced from Alsace and Burgundy, including material from Puligny-Montrachet. These small-berried, low-vigour plants deliver lower yields and more concentrated aromatics. Vineyard work follows organic principles — no herbicides, no synthetic fertilizers, cover crop seeding — though the estate dropped formal organic certification after 2014 to reduce administrative overhead. The vineyards sit at 240 to 380 meters elevation on small terraces around Bickensohl, with soils ranging from loess at lower elevations to volcanic rock higher up.

Koch classifies his wines in a Burgundy-inspired hierarchy tied directly to soil and elevation: loess-dominant, lower-elevation parcels produce the Kaiserstuhl-label wines, while the higher Herrenstück terraces yield progressively more structured wines classified by one to three stars and a Reserve. In the cellar, fermentation is spontaneous with indigenous yeast. The Kaiserstuhl Spätburgunder macerates for 14 days in 3,000-liter wooden casks and ages nine months in the same vessels. No fining or filtration is applied.

Wine region

Baden, Germany

Kaiserstuhl is a compact cluster of volcanic hills on the eastern bank of the Rhine in the Baden wine region of southwest Germany, northwest of Freiburg and roughly 7.7 kilometers from the French border. The soils are a mix of dark volcanic rock and loess — wind-deposited silt that covers the lower-lying, flatter parcels, while thinner volcanic soils dominate the higher terraces. Baden is Germany's only wine region classified in EU viticulture zone B, the same zone as Alsace, which places it alongside France's warmest northern-latitude wine areas rather than Germany's cooler zone A regions.

Kaiserstuhl is the warmest wine district in Germany, with a borderline Mediterranean climate, mild winters, and the Vosges Mountains to the west reducing rainfall and increasing sunshine hours. Pinot Noir — locally called Spätburgunder — accounts for around 40% of plantings and is the district's signature red grape. The Kaiserstuhl Großlage is called Vulkanfelsen (volcanic rock), a reference to the geology that underlies its finest sites. The village of Bickensohl, where Holger Koch's vineyards are concentrated, sits at the cooler, higher end of the appellation, benefiting from significant day-to-night temperature variation that preserves acidity and aromatic precision.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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