Producer
Jean Stodden
The Stodden family have been producing fine wine in the Ahr since 1578, and have holdings in some of the region's most important grand cru sites, including Recher Herrenberg, Ahrweiler Rosenthal and Dernauer Hardtberg. With nearly 450 years of winemaking know-how, the estate has built a reputation for producing some of Germany’s finest red wines, with many in the wine world referring to them as ‘Pinot Gods’. While the Ahr is noted for its softer style of Pinot Noir, Stodden’s wines are fuller bodied with distinctive depth and concentration of flavour. Taking heavy inspiration from the wines of the Cotes de Nuits (Dujac and Ponsot are notable friends of the family), Stodden’s focus is on crafting Spätburgunders which are more structured and age-worthy than their neighbouring counterparts. Current winemaker Alexander Stodden is a man once met, never forgotten and a Pinot specialist, who has been at the helm since 2011. In the winery he destems everything and ferments in stainless steel. He also introduces oxygen to the wine from the very start, and all through its barrel ageing, which make for a smooth texture. He pats his tummy and jokes, ‘I want my wine to be full-bodied, like me! However, life has not been easy for the Stoddens of late. On the 15th July last year, a devastating flood ripped through the Ahr valley, taking many lives and destroying homes. The Stodden winery was badly hit: they lost 2.5 hectare of vines and many barrels were smashed. Miraculously, some of the barrels remained perfectly intact and Alex has produced small quantities of the 2020 vintage. He was unable to make single vineyard wines in 2020 because the chalk inscriptions on each barrel were washed off by the water making identification impossible. Instead, Alex tasted each barrel individually and blended them together based on their quality. From this tasting, the Stoddens chose to produce three separate Spätburgunder cuvées: a village level wine, a premier cru level wine and a grand cru level wine.
