Like a Complete Unknown: Felix Adelmann

By Stuart Pigott - last revision: 06.07.26

The double doors separating the front room from the back room of the expansive Berlin apartment slid back, and everyone at the party was surprised as two Marshall stacks with a musician toting a Gibson electric guitar between them were revealed. Although the amps were set to the lowest setting a wave of sound poured from the Marshall stacks as Felix Adelmann began his first improvisation. Music streamed over music thanks to his use of a tape echo unit, light swirling in darkness, then cascading over us, the audience stunned by Felix’s Audio-Dacious Vision of a wine he’d made…

Time often passes like a mill relelntlessly turning. Who doesn'tsometimes feels that far too much time gets ground up by the demands of our work-a-day lives. So, it was many months until Felix Adelmann of the Graf Adelmann winery in Kleinbottwar / Württemberg visited my Eppstein wine tasting den to sit with me at the Global Wine Desk. However, that meant there were more really new wines to taste. Felix's musical tone remains melodic, but with an edginess that’s hard to pin down, since it seems to be continually shifting. However, the tone of his entry-level wines has changed dramatically. Suddenly, with the 2025 vintage, they’ve gained a wonderful brightness and are expressively aromatic. He told me that he was tired of the ponderous and over-thought style of the previous couple of vintages, and he looked relieved when they grabbed me. YES!

Then the conversation turned in a more radical direction when he asked me, „what do consumers really want to drink?“ And I answered, „if you look at which wines are successful, then in some ways it’s obvious, but for me the more interesting question is, „what would please consumers that they can’t yet put into words?"" The ground beneath our feet is shifting in many ways, some of which fill the evening news; other things remain below the waterline of visibility. Which course should we set through these uncharted waters in this moonless night?

And how should we deal with the vicious demonization of wine that, long after the arguments deployed against wine have been demolished by experts, continues to rain down on us like the attack of a drone swarm?

Like me, Felix - we've been friends since I first visited him at the Medieval Bunker of Burg Schaubeck at the beginning of 2024 - is often happy to go with the creative flow. However, the avalanche we're currently experiencing is way more than some kind of flow, and it certainly isn't creative. Now plans of some kind have become unavoidable, but which plans can cope not just with flux, but with the flux of flux? I hope to provide some answers to this myself, but please be patient.

One idea Felix is exploring is Synaesthesia, meaning the experience of tasting wine expressed as sound, or the Sonic Space Exploration of Riesling, Pinot Noir and Lemberger. Yes, the rumours are true and Felix is working on an album of new music with a tentative release date of early 2027. And adopt the Brace Position for a SPLASH LANDING in radically new Württemberg wines!

„Don’t get me wrong - I love wine and I have a lot of joy presenting it - but the way I want to. Maybe this is a way of doing that, and maybe that’s also key for the future success of the wines. Let’s see.“ Yes, Felix Adelmann’s wines are radical works-in-progress, but maybe all wines are works-in-progress, and the daring thing is to accept this fact! Of the 16 wines below that I tasted at the Global Wine Desk just one didn't quite make it into earth orbit, but the others are all up there and someare journeying to the new Planet Wine that awaits us somewhere out there in the future!

DRY WHITE PINOTS

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Weissburgunder trocken  2025 - 12% / This charming dry Pinot blanc has a lovely juiciness that deftly balanced by its spring-like freshness. The effusive white tree fruit and citrus blossom aromas make it very enticing. Gently crisp finish. 91 (SP)

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Grauburgunder trocken  2025 - 12% / The ripe pear aroma pours from the glass. Wonderful roundness and silkiness on the surprisingly delicate palate. Touch of melted butter at the finish, but no hint of sweetness. 91 (SP)

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Weissburgunder  Lichtenberg EL  2023 - 13.5% /  Here’s that rare beast, a dry Pinot Blanc that spent a year in oak casks and came out the other side with an excellent balance of candied citrus character, moderate creaminess and fine tannins. Long, finish in which mleted butter richness and mineral acidity are exactly balanced. 93 (SP)

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Grauburgunder  Oberer Berg GG  2022 - 13% / The interplay of the generous tannins, textural complexity, flinty minerality and quince character makes this ambitious dry Pinot Gris both impressive and satisfying. Some real power at the finish, but without the warmth that so often spoils this kind of wine. 94 (SP)

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Die Mauern von Schaubeck Weisswein Cuvée trocken  2023 - 13.5% / This unusual, concentrated and full-bodied dry white has an excellent balance of fine oak tannins and creaminess on the front and mid-palates, but the finish is powerful in a self-confidently dry manner. 92 (SP)

DRY RIESLING

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Riesling trocken  2025 - 11.5% / The delicate white peach, honeysuckle and lime zest aromas leap out of the glass at you. Sleek, yet substanital with a racy acidity and wet-stone minerality.  Long finish with citrusy freshness. 91 (SP)

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Riesling  Süssmund GG Das Lied von der Erde  2019 - 13% / Very mellow and textural with candied orange peel, sushi ginger and toasted rye bread. There’s obviously some oak in here, but also enough body and texture to carry this style. Then comes, the very firm and grainy finish. There's a Hendrix-type aspect to this , but I find it a bit tough. 89 (SP)

Graf Adelmann  Schwäbischer Landwein  Riesling  Neben Neben Frank trocken  2020 - 13.5% / All stand for the arrival of the flintstone monster! This skin-fermented dry Riesling is a wild thing with tons of funk, but either you want to walk on this side or you don’t. Amazingly, this orange Riesling has an excellent harmon at the bold finish. 93 (SP)

SPÄTBURGUNDER REDS

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Spätburgunder trocken  2022 - 12% / Quite smoky with touches of clove and liquorice, this has the ripeness and structure of the vintage. Long, silky finish with forest floor character. 92 (SP)

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Pinot Noir trocken  2021 - 12.5% / Quite a crisp Pinot Noir, but with enough substance to carry this style. The best thing about the wine are the subtle forest floor and the silky tannins on the front palate. 91 (SP)  

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Spätburgunder  Götzenberg GG  2022 - 12.5% / A great Pinot Noir that happens to come from Württemberg, but can easily stand neyt to any of the stars from Rheinhessen, the Pfalz or Baden. Fantastic juiciness, elegance and finesse, the power deftly underplayed. Mineral, spice and forest floor nunaces cascade over your palate at the very long finish! 96 (SP)

LEMBERGER REDS

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Lemberger trocken  2022 - 12% / A very appealing expression of this grape with cooked beetroot, Amarena cherry and allspice aromas. Juicy and elegant with an excellent balance of fine tannins and surprisingly youthful fruit. Real grip at the finish for an entry-level wine. 92 (SP) 

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Lemberger  Oberer Berg GG Der Schwarze Loewe  2021 - 12.5% /  Thanks to the juiciness of this generous and youthful red, it carries the ample new oak very well. Seriously spicy, almost gingerbread, but the fruit is still a bit closed. Very young and tightly wound at the crisp finish. An excellent result for the challenging vintage! 94 (SP)

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Herbst im Park Rotwein Cuvée  2020 - 13% / An excellent Lemberger-dominated blend that doesn’t fit in any of the obvious pigeonholes, but has stacks of forest berry fruits, liquorice, grilled capsicum and clove. This well-structured red cuvée has mellowed nicely, but still has plenty of vigour. Long, elegant finish with rooty and earthy complexity. A cuvée of 50% Lemberger plus 30% Pinot Noir and 20% Cabernet. 93 (SP)

BORDEAUX VARIETY REDS

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Merlot trocken  2023 - 12.5% / There's a few fancy Merlots from Germany out there, but where else can youfind an entry-level wine that actually tastes like Merlot? This might be the only one. As rooty as it is juicy, with generous velvety tannins and impressive drive at the long, mellow finish. 93 (SP)

Graf Adelmann  Württemberg  Carpe Diem „Hades“ trocken  2022 - 13% / An exciting red that marries the mellow richness of Merlot with spice, liquorice and (positive) charcoal aromas. Carries the oak so well thanks to the vivid black red berry fruit on the full-bodied. Great energy and drive at the finish! A cuvée of 60% Merlot and 40% various Cabernets. 95 (SP)

OUTSIDE THE BOX

Graf Adelmann  Schwäbischer Landwein  Cuvée Egal trocken  2024 - ??% / Egal means whatever in English, and that fits this crazy cuvée of Merlot and Traminer which was fermented on the skins as a red wine. It’s rich and perfumed with a lovely silkiness, the fruit on the front palate quite „sweet“, then the dry tannins and clove character build, twisting the wine in another direction entirely.  94 (SP)