Sad news and good news from Germany

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Sad news

Sad news for lovers of fine German Pinot Noir comes from the Ahr Valley, where Gerd Stodden, one of the pioneers of serious Spätburgunder in the early 1990s, died on 16 January of heart failure while jogging (at the same time as I was also jogging in the cool Ahr Valley).

Gerd Stodden, 64, of Weingut Jean Stodden was one of the very first Spätburgunder producers in Germany to give his wines some serious French oak treatment, and while some critics felt that early efforts may have suffered from an excess of tannin, it can be said that...