On the 18th of September we went for a visit to Weingut Bernhard Pawis (Note: there are more than one Pawis) in Zscheiplitz. Bernhard
Pawis is the second VdP-member in Saale-Unstrut (Lützkendorf being the first). Weingut Pawis is founded in 1990 by Herbert and Irene
Pawis. Today it is run by son Bernhard and family. There are 11 hektar of vines, most of them within Freyburg, from fine sites as
Freyburger Mühlberg and the grosses gewächs Edelacker. Weingut Bernhard Pawis also makes several wines without mention of vineyard.
Here are the notes from what we tasted at our visit:
Grüner silvaner kabinett trocken 2006
Fresh nose. Lightly leafy, citrus. Quite elegant. Medium bodied in the mouth. Light and quite easygoing. More silvaner-ish fruit in
the mouth. Leafy underripe fruit, slight mineral touch. Fine acidity and citrusy finish. A light depth. Good for the price. 12,0%
alc/vol, 4,4 g/L residual sugar, 6,1 g/L acid. Price: 6,20 €.
Weisser burgunder kabinett trocken 2006
A little sweeter, fuller nose. Slight apricot. Flowery, leafy. A little more neutral. Slightly fatter in the mouth. Simple wine. A
little sweeter and riper fruit. Lacking the slight minerality of the silvaner. Fine acidity. Mild and round wine. Decent length. Not
as interesting. 12,0% alc/vol, 5,8 g/L residual sugar, 5,6 g/L acid. Price: 8,50 €.
Freyburger Edelacker weissburgunder spätlese S trocken 2006
Sweeter more exotic nose. Tropical fruits, flowers. Fullbodied in the mouth. Again quite sweet. Fatter and more concentrated style.
Tropical fruit and some coconut in the finish. Fine balance with a good acidity. Good length. Different and exotic weissburgunder.
Good, if you like this style. 13,5% alc/vol, 7,6 g/L residual sugar, 6,7 g/L acid. Price: 14,-€.
Freyburger Edelacker Weissburgunder spätlese neuen barrique 2006
Nose shows oak, vanilla, spice and flowers. Not very unlike a Cote d'Or. Fullbodied wine in the mouth. Quite elegant. Good acidity
making the wine not too fat. The oak is highly noticable now, but this seems to have the stuffing to integrate. Some spice and
flowers in the fruit. Oak in the finish. Young wine. This needs time and can be interesting to follow. Give it 2-3 years. This is a
nicely done weissburgunder in barrique. 13,5% alc/vol, 7,7 g/L residual sugar, 6,6 g/L acid. Price: 16,-€
Freyburger Edelacker grauburgunder spätlese 2006
Nose shows more typical banana-like notes. Also flowers. A little fatter and coarser wine in the mouth. Showing a little minerality,
which is nice. Slight fat, but fine balance. Medium acidity. A little noticable alcohol. Decent. 13,0% alc/vol, 8,9 g/L residual
sugar, 6,6 g/L acid. Price: 9,95 €.
Riesling kabinett trocken 2006
Slight tropical and typical riesling with hints of flowers and petrol. Light in the mouth. Dry. Mineral and slim fruit. Fine acidity.
Citrus in the finish. Drinks fine now. Good and simple. 12,0% alc/vol, 5,2 g/L residual sugar, 7,6 g/L acid. Price: 8,50 €.
Freyburger Mühlberg riesling spätlese 2006
Finer nose, more elegance and better mineral depth. Not as giving though. Again quite slim style in the mouth with fine elegance.
More mineral complex. Good depth. Young, but fine now. Good acidity and refreshing finish. Very fine dry and interesting riesling.
Very good for the price. 13,0% alc/vol, 8,0 g/L residual sugar, 7,3 g/L acid. Price: 9,95 €.
Blauer zweigelt qba trocken 2006
Sweet berryish nose. Much high notes, almost paint-like. Quite thick fruit in the mouth. Clean, fruity style. Much berryish fruit with
hints of anis and spice. Fine acidity, dry style. Little tannins. Simple. Good food-wine. 13,0% alc/vol, 0,8 g/L residual sugar, 4,7
g/L acid. Price: 8,50 €.
Freyburger Edelacker blauer zweigelt spätlese trocken barrique 2005
Oak and ripe fruit-notes with lots of high notes. Some port-like notes. Fullbodied zweigelt in the mouth. Much fruit and oak not
fully integrated. A little more structure. Fine acidity. Again little tannins. Sweet finish. Needs more time. Seems to have the
fruit, but unsure if this gains much from the oaking. Does not seem so complex. 14,0% alc/vol, 0,9 g/L residual sugar, 5,0 g/L acid.
Price: 17,80 €.
Freyburger Mühlberg Blauer spätburgunder spätlese trocken barrique 2005
Lighter red. Quite transparent colour. Earthy nose quite typical of german spätburgunders. Some florality. Some fine wet forest-floor.
Oak is more noticable in the mouth. Decent concentration. Very good for such a northernly pinot noir. A bit on the earthy side.
Needs a little more time to gain complexity. Fair quality. 13,0% alc/vol, 1,4 g/L residual sugar, 5,1 g/L acid. Price: 19,80 €.
Weingut Bernhard Pawis has fine non-einzellage wines for the price. They are clean and with a touch of depth. The riper
vineyard-wines is a little sweet and perhaps lacking focus for the minerality. The riesling was my favorites here. The barriqued
weissburgunder was elegant and balanced and very burgund-like. It was interesting The spätburgunder the finest I have tasted from
the region, but still not very interesting. The zweigelt was far less interesting.
Arnt Egil Nordlien
notes: Sep-07