Wine Advisor
Daniel Twardowski, Ardoise Pinot Noix 2017
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
Ripe dark cherry and blackberry mingles with piquant green herbs, smoky black tea and sweaty salinity on a penetrating nose and a palate whose graininess in part reflects oak exposure and in part Twardowski’s utilization of roughly one-third clusters with stems. The finish offers a striking and rare combination of powerful grip with lift borne of a mere 12.2% alcohol. The sweaty notes translate into welcome tang and salivary stimulation. It remains to be seen the extent to which this gains textural allure with time, and I have remained very conservative in my quantified prognosis for bottle evolution. (I have been remiss in past reviews for not appending the word “Ardoise” – French for slate – to this wine’s name, as it has always appeared in small letters beneath “Pinot Noix.” For those new to Twardowski’s wines, the “x” in “Pinot Noix” is not a misprint but an allusion to the nut trees associated with the first of his Dhron Pinot Noir vineyards.)
About the Producer
Daniel Twardowski is a Burgundy fanatic with deep connections there. His whole winemaking project is a spare-no-expense, deep-dive into the potential of Mosel Pinot Noir, with vine material from Clos de la Roche, Richebourg and Romanée St. Vivant and top barrels from producers like DRC, Leroy and Rousseau. There are two wines on offer today: The "Ardoise" (French for slate) is Twadowski's main wine. It is a single-vineyard, "Grand Cru" Pinot Noir sourced from a tiny, 3-hectare plot within the Grand Cru Hofberg. It is deeply concentrated, elegant, with a precious energy - a cut and grip to it that is so rewarding. Vintage 2018, however, also marks the first release of the Hofberg Réserve - a wine made from Pinot Noir grafted onto very old vines (70+ years old). This is simply one of the greatest Pinot Noirs to come out of Germany.
