Pfalz Region

Wines

Label

Sankt Paul

Estate

Becker Estate

Pfalz, Germany

As a young man, Friedrich Becker dared to break with the family tradition of supplying grapes to the local co-operative, and started bottling his own wines. From this beginning, he has developed to be one of the best producers in the Pfalz winegrowing region, the currently best Pinot Noir producer in Germany, as well as our
“Rising Star of 2006”.

Becker first attracted attention with his clearly structured, acid-dominated white wines in the 1980’s. Then, many years of travelling as well as many years of working with cellar master Stefan Dorst inspired him to continuously improve his red wines.

New vineyards were specifically planted on stony, chalky soils – which curiously enough are located on the Alsace side of the border, but are legally permitted to produce German wine of origin, while old, existing vineyards were systematically improved. But that is not all. When Friedrich Becker was once asked how good red wine is made, he replied “by gut feel, by instinct”. One can believe him, at least in part, as his Pinot Noirs (Spätburgunder) have concentration and finesse, while being at the same time fleshy and emotional. The children Fritz and Helena are already active in the business, and with each passing year improve the likelihood that their father’s feeling for wine will be passed on.

Ever since his legendary 1989 vintage, Friedric Becker has been regarded one of the leading red wine producers in Germany and hardly any other producer can look back on such an unbroken line of great Pinot Noirs. Ever since the outstanding 1996 Res. Pinot noir, which remains the best to date from this estate, we have
been enthusiastic about the red wines practically every year.

Following on the absolutely grand 2002 vintage, Becker and Dorst managed to top this achievement with the 2003 vintage. In fact,
Beckers achievements with Pinot Noir alone were enough to ensure inclusion of the estate among the best producers in Germany. For many years, the white wines languished a little in the shadow of the outstanding reds. However, in recent years the team has also been working ambitiously on improving the quality of the white wines.

In the 2005 vintage, the best Riesling wines and the Pinot Noirs once
again are all rated at around the 90 point level, or above. No sooner had Becker taken to producing and bottling a Riesling “Grosses Gewächs” (Grand Cru) for the first time, than he made sure it would be one of the best Riesling wines in the Pfalz region. It comes as absolutely no surprise that the red wines of the 2004 vintage are once again among the very best in Germany.

For the fourth year in succession, Becker’s Pinot Noir Tafelwein (table wine) is the best red wine of its vintage in the whole of Germany. Congratulations!