Philip Lardot Pinot Noir 2022
Location: Germany, Mosel
Winemaker: Philip Lardot
Grapes: Pinot Noir
From the Importer Vom Boden: Honestly, more than nearly any other grower profile, I’m at a loss of where to begin here, where to place the flag for “Chapter 1.” Part of this confusion relates to the fact that it’s a confusing story. The other part of it is just raw emotion, for Philip Lardot is being groomed to take over Dr. Ulrich (Ulli) Stein’s vineyards and cellars, which of course implies that Ulli Stein at some point won’t be making wines from his beloved vines, which is a little more than I can bear. I understand the progression of life – birth and death, alpha and omega and all that – but Ulli Stein is more than a winemaker to me, more than just one of the most compelling humans I’ve ever met, he is my friend. And he is so interwoven into my very personal relationship with the Mosel that I’m not sure how I understand the Mosel without Ulli there, making his wines.
But Ulli is a wiser, calmer, more present human than I am, and he has found another wiser, calmer and more present human than I am in the ambitious Philip Lardot. So they are figuring out the future, together. Currently, so far as I can gather, the two work together in numerous ways. Philip helps Ulli in the vineyards and in the cellars, from start to finish, assisting with the “Stein” collection. In return, Philip gets a hell of an education as well as the use of the necessary cellar implements (presses, pumps, etc) and some cellar space to make his own wines. And this – Philip’s own wines – is what we’ll cover here.
Philip is a young dude – he did his first harvest in the Mosel in 2013 with Clemens Busch and quickly decided to quit his job back in Amsterdam and return to work in the Mosel with Clemens through 2014. 2015 and 2016 involved apprenticeships at places like Henri Milan, Bernard Baudry and Bertrand Jousset, though Chenin didn’t do it for him like the Riesling did (with apologies and love to Pascaline). So back to Germany Philip went in the spring of 2016. He went there with few plans: only to learn, to taste as much as he could and, hopefully, someday, to make some wines. The pull of the Mosel is real, and when it calls, well, you go.
He ended up really digging these “Stein wines” and buying a lot of them ex-cellar, thus the relationship with Philip and Stein began. By the spring of 2017 he was working with Stein. All of this to say, what we have here is the beginning of what will be (already is?) a fascinating story.
Philip’s own wines are wines of exploration, wines that push and pull expectations of what the Mosel is, or can be. He produced only a little bit of wine in 2016. So 2017 represents his first real “commercial” release, though take the word “commercial” with a grain of salt. For some context and behind-the-scenes intel: We weren’t able to put together an order for a pallet of wine (50 cases) even taking everything we were offered. Amsterdam, Philip’s hometown, snatched up a lot (thus beginning our now legendary feud with this celebrated city).
Some big-picture themes to keep in mind when tasting through the wines of Philip Lardot. He is working in the more “natural wine” vein, which dovetails with much of Ulli’s work. Though not every grape is certified organic, obviously the use of any insecticides or pesticides is simply a no-go and nearly everything is as close as you can get to organic, or, just straight-up organic. Philip has the same near-religious commitment to hand-work (rage against the machine) as does Ulli.
In the cellar, all the fermentations are natural and Philip does not block malolactic fermentation, which is a bit unique in the Mosel. To some extent, that signature Mosel acidity and form, that ultra-linear, lime-green acid-shockwave comes from blocking malolactic. His argument against blocking malo has a good amount of logic though: the Mosel is cool climate, producing high acidities to begin with. Then you have a grape like Riesling which has one of the highest levels of natural acidity of any grape. Why do you want to block malolatic to accentuate the acidity more? (The answer, of course, is to accentuate the acidity even more!) But blocking malolactic can require a bit more S02, some filtering and the like, so Philip just leaves the wines alone, on their full lees, for quite some time, until bottling. Some wines are lightly filtered; most see just a little bit of S02 at bottling only.
The general Lardot aesthetic though, is wines of a gauzy, satiny texture. Rieslings that are not milky or heavy by any means, but that are more coating and layered. The skin fermented Pinot Gris is a humble revelation, tart red fruit and sous bois with a crispy acidity. The Pinot Noir is brisk and alpine. All the wines have a meditative, glowing, whispering sorta feel to them, presenting the Mosel not as a lighting bolt, but as a misty, soulful, contemplative place, deep with mineral and mystery.
Which it is. A really powerful first vintage for Lardot; we can’t wait to see where he (and Ulli) go.
Location: Germany, Mosel
Winemaker: Philip Lardot
Grapes: Pinot Noir
From the Importer Vom Boden: Honestly, more than nearly any other grower profile, I’m at a loss of where to begin here, where to place the flag for “Chapter 1.” Part of this confusion relates to the fact that it’s a confusing story. The other part of it is just raw emotion, for Philip Lardot is being groomed to take over Dr. Ulrich (Ulli) Stein’s vineyards and cellars, which of course implies that Ulli Stein at some point won’t be making wines from his beloved vines, which is a little more than I can bear. I understand the progression of life – birth and death, alpha and omega and all that – but Ulli Stein is more than a winemaker to me, more than just one of the most compelling humans I’ve ever met, he is my friend. And he is so interwoven into my very personal relationship with the Mosel that I’m not sure how I understand the Mosel without Ulli there, making his wines.
But Ulli is a wiser, calmer, more present human than I am, and he has found another wiser, calmer and more present human than I am in the ambitious Philip Lardot. So they are figuring out the future, together. Currently, so far as I can gather, the two work together in numerous ways. Philip helps Ulli in the vineyards and in the cellars, from start to finish, assisting with the “Stein” collection. In return, Philip gets a hell of an education as well as the use of the necessary cellar implements (presses, pumps, etc) and some cellar space to make his own wines. And this – Philip’s own wines – is what we’ll cover here.
Philip is a young dude – he did his first harvest in the Mosel in 2013 with Clemens Busch and quickly decided to quit his job back in Amsterdam and return to work in the Mosel with Clemens through 2014. 2015 and 2016 involved apprenticeships at places like Henri Milan, Bernard Baudry and Bertrand Jousset, though Chenin didn’t do it for him like the Riesling did (with apologies and love to Pascaline). So back to Germany Philip went in the spring of 2016. He went there with few plans: only to learn, to taste as much as he could and, hopefully, someday, to make some wines. The pull of the Mosel is real, and when it calls, well, you go.
He ended up really digging these “Stein wines” and buying a lot of them ex-cellar, thus the relationship with Philip and Stein began. By the spring of 2017 he was working with Stein. All of this to say, what we have here is the beginning of what will be (already is?) a fascinating story.
Philip’s own wines are wines of exploration, wines that push and pull expectations of what the Mosel is, or can be. He produced only a little bit of wine in 2016. So 2017 represents his first real “commercial” release, though take the word “commercial” with a grain of salt. For some context and behind-the-scenes intel: We weren’t able to put together an order for a pallet of wine (50 cases) even taking everything we were offered. Amsterdam, Philip’s hometown, snatched up a lot (thus beginning our now legendary feud with this celebrated city).
Some big-picture themes to keep in mind when tasting through the wines of Philip Lardot. He is working in the more “natural wine” vein, which dovetails with much of Ulli’s work. Though not every grape is certified organic, obviously the use of any insecticides or pesticides is simply a no-go and nearly everything is as close as you can get to organic, or, just straight-up organic. Philip has the same near-religious commitment to hand-work (rage against the machine) as does Ulli.
In the cellar, all the fermentations are natural and Philip does not block malolactic fermentation, which is a bit unique in the Mosel. To some extent, that signature Mosel acidity and form, that ultra-linear, lime-green acid-shockwave comes from blocking malolactic. His argument against blocking malo has a good amount of logic though: the Mosel is cool climate, producing high acidities to begin with. Then you have a grape like Riesling which has one of the highest levels of natural acidity of any grape. Why do you want to block malolatic to accentuate the acidity more? (The answer, of course, is to accentuate the acidity even more!) But blocking malolactic can require a bit more S02, some filtering and the like, so Philip just leaves the wines alone, on their full lees, for quite some time, until bottling. Some wines are lightly filtered; most see just a little bit of S02 at bottling only.
The general Lardot aesthetic though, is wines of a gauzy, satiny texture. Rieslings that are not milky or heavy by any means, but that are more coating and layered. The skin fermented Pinot Gris is a humble revelation, tart red fruit and sous bois with a crispy acidity. The Pinot Noir is brisk and alpine. All the wines have a meditative, glowing, whispering sorta feel to them, presenting the Mosel not as a lighting bolt, but as a misty, soulful, contemplative place, deep with mineral and mystery.
Which it is. A really powerful first vintage for Lardot; we can’t wait to see where he (and Ulli) go.
Location: Germany, Mosel
Winemaker: Philip Lardot
Grapes: Pinot Noir
From the Importer Vom Boden: Honestly, more than nearly any other grower profile, I’m at a loss of where to begin here, where to place the flag for “Chapter 1.” Part of this confusion relates to the fact that it’s a confusing story. The other part of it is just raw emotion, for Philip Lardot is being groomed to take over Dr. Ulrich (Ulli) Stein’s vineyards and cellars, which of course implies that Ulli Stein at some point won’t be making wines from his beloved vines, which is a little more than I can bear. I understand the progression of life – birth and death, alpha and omega and all that – but Ulli Stein is more than a winemaker to me, more than just one of the most compelling humans I’ve ever met, he is my friend. And he is so interwoven into my very personal relationship with the Mosel that I’m not sure how I understand the Mosel without Ulli there, making his wines.
But Ulli is a wiser, calmer, more present human than I am, and he has found another wiser, calmer and more present human than I am in the ambitious Philip Lardot. So they are figuring out the future, together. Currently, so far as I can gather, the two work together in numerous ways. Philip helps Ulli in the vineyards and in the cellars, from start to finish, assisting with the “Stein” collection. In return, Philip gets a hell of an education as well as the use of the necessary cellar implements (presses, pumps, etc) and some cellar space to make his own wines. And this – Philip’s own wines – is what we’ll cover here.
Philip is a young dude – he did his first harvest in the Mosel in 2013 with Clemens Busch and quickly decided to quit his job back in Amsterdam and return to work in the Mosel with Clemens through 2014. 2015 and 2016 involved apprenticeships at places like Henri Milan, Bernard Baudry and Bertrand Jousset, though Chenin didn’t do it for him like the Riesling did (with apologies and love to Pascaline). So back to Germany Philip went in the spring of 2016. He went there with few plans: only to learn, to taste as much as he could and, hopefully, someday, to make some wines. The pull of the Mosel is real, and when it calls, well, you go.
He ended up really digging these “Stein wines” and buying a lot of them ex-cellar, thus the relationship with Philip and Stein began. By the spring of 2017 he was working with Stein. All of this to say, what we have here is the beginning of what will be (already is?) a fascinating story.
Philip’s own wines are wines of exploration, wines that push and pull expectations of what the Mosel is, or can be. He produced only a little bit of wine in 2016. So 2017 represents his first real “commercial” release, though take the word “commercial” with a grain of salt. For some context and behind-the-scenes intel: We weren’t able to put together an order for a pallet of wine (50 cases) even taking everything we were offered. Amsterdam, Philip’s hometown, snatched up a lot (thus beginning our now legendary feud with this celebrated city).
Some big-picture themes to keep in mind when tasting through the wines of Philip Lardot. He is working in the more “natural wine” vein, which dovetails with much of Ulli’s work. Though not every grape is certified organic, obviously the use of any insecticides or pesticides is simply a no-go and nearly everything is as close as you can get to organic, or, just straight-up organic. Philip has the same near-religious commitment to hand-work (rage against the machine) as does Ulli.
In the cellar, all the fermentations are natural and Philip does not block malolactic fermentation, which is a bit unique in the Mosel. To some extent, that signature Mosel acidity and form, that ultra-linear, lime-green acid-shockwave comes from blocking malolactic. His argument against blocking malo has a good amount of logic though: the Mosel is cool climate, producing high acidities to begin with. Then you have a grape like Riesling which has one of the highest levels of natural acidity of any grape. Why do you want to block malolatic to accentuate the acidity more? (The answer, of course, is to accentuate the acidity even more!) But blocking malolactic can require a bit more S02, some filtering and the like, so Philip just leaves the wines alone, on their full lees, for quite some time, until bottling. Some wines are lightly filtered; most see just a little bit of S02 at bottling only.
The general Lardot aesthetic though, is wines of a gauzy, satiny texture. Rieslings that are not milky or heavy by any means, but that are more coating and layered. The skin fermented Pinot Gris is a humble revelation, tart red fruit and sous bois with a crispy acidity. The Pinot Noir is brisk and alpine. All the wines have a meditative, glowing, whispering sorta feel to them, presenting the Mosel not as a lighting bolt, but as a misty, soulful, contemplative place, deep with mineral and mystery.
Which it is. A really powerful first vintage for Lardot; we can’t wait to see where he (and Ulli) go.