Germany loses its wizard of Pinot Noir

Last Wednesday 11 June 2014 the German wine industry lost one of its all-time great producers, Bernhard Huber, the 55-year-old Spätburgunder wizard of Malterdingen. The last time I met Bernhard Huber was in January 2013 in Mayschoss at the funeral of another great Spätburgunder maker, Wolfgang Hehle of Deutzerhof fame. Very few people knew that he was already ill then, as he kept carrying out his duties with the same enthusiasm and craftsmanship he had shown for decades. His Spätburgunder Grosse Gewächse were not only frequently mistaken for top French Pinot Noirs by Burgundy growers themselves, they also beat them...