While a slightly rancid tone from the used 300-liter barrels in which it was vinified seemed to be what vitiated the basic Dies-Duppel Pinot Noir bottling for me, their 2007 Birkweiler Kastanienbusch Spatburgunder trocken is cleanly-fruited, its fresh, tart cherries taken with a significant does of their pits, and with a lovely marrow-like meatiness underlying its juicy, savory finish. This is a bit spare, no doubt, but is successful by more than merely a via negativa, sidestepping problems one often encounters with Pinot Noir from these climes, yes, but also balancing subtle creaminess with refreshment and pure fruit with a carnal dimension in way only this grape can, and then only when treated with the utmost care. I was thinking, drink this over the next 2-3 years, but then I tried a still fresh – if anything, more deeply-flavored – bottle that I was told had been open nine days (something you can’t do with Burgundy!) and so I just wonder?. For more about Volker Gies’s promising career and estate, consult my coverage in issue 185. His 2008s – which typically received around 6 hours on their skins in the press – were bottled already in March (and indeed, several were sold out by September). Gies indicated that it rained in his part of the Sudliche Weinstrasse for the better part of a week beginning October 27, so that he was glad to have finished picking shortly before that, but as at neighboring Wehrheim, I found this collection of wines on the whole slightly austere when compared with last year’s.Importer: Tartaglione Fine Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 216-3356