Region: Germany - Pfalz
Grapes: Pinot Noir
Alcohol: 10.5%
Notes on the Wine
These are not wines for those that enjoy the so-called ‘traditional’ style, often with at least some residual sugar and a more fruit-forward style. Wines are vinified bone dry. What’s more, the moniker of ‘natural winemaker’ or ‘avant-guard winemaker’ irritates Jonas. He’s proud of them working biodynamically, but he’s not dogmatic about issues such as sulphur, and prefers to talk about his craft as cellar master:
Whole-cluster for 30 days carbonic maceration in stainless steel tanks without temperature control; then it’s free run juice and a continuing of the spontaneous fermentation. There is nothing technical going on here; there are no temperature controlled tanks. Wine and lees are transferred to barrels made from a relatively unknown small local cooperage called Michel Gieß. Depending on the barrel, some are topped up, others are left to create a controlled oxidation. Natural decant and sulphur addition take place before bottling. The sulphur is not demonized here, but reduced to an absolute minimum and only used when the wines demand it. Jonas says he works by intuition…smelling and tasting the wine daily, like my grandfather did.
