Unbottled – Ziereisen Gestaad Syrah

The next region I am presenting in my series on German wine is Baden. Luckily, I had a bottle of a renown vineyards in my cellar for a few years now. So, I went with the syrah from Hanspeter Ziereisen and paired it with club steak.

Baden is Germany’s most southern wine-growing region. Additionally, Hanspeter Ziereisen’s vineyard lies at the border to Switzerland. He farms 21 ha with Pinot noir, Gutedel, Syrah, Pinot Gris, Pinot blanc, Muscat, Gewuerztraminer and Chardonnay. The vineyard does not use chemicals, and the wines are fermented with natural yeasts. A few years ago, the Ziereisens decided to sell their wines as ‘Vin de Pays’, because of too restrictive wine testing.

Burgundy style

The grapes for the Gestaad Syrah grow on Jurassic limestone. After the spontaneous fermentation, the wine ages for around 20 months in new and used barrique barrels. In the end, Hanspeter Ziereisen bottles the wine without filtration.

Fruity and smooth

The Gestaad 2019 vintage starts with primary fruit which reminded me of berries, dark cherries as well as a touch of blackberries. You could also find some leather and tobacco in the taste. The tannins were noticeable in the wine when freshly opened but became nicely integrated after decanting. All in all, it was a smooth yet quite complex sipper.

Great with beef

For a food-pairing, I decided to go with steak, roasted potatoes as well as green beans with bacon. This also marked the first barbecue of the year for me. When it comes to the cut, I went with an organic Angus beef club steak. The combination of medium-rare steak, potatoes, and the syrah was simply excellent.