Dame Wine

As the sun shone down between the clouds, illuminating the medieval buildings and ancient abbeys, a little girl took a deep breath. Life was an enchanting dream in the Wachau Valley, Austria – tiny villages with steep hills planted with vines along the old dry-stone terraces that were constantly refreshed with the breezes from the Danube River. In her early childhood, this little girl took in the historic buildings of her village thinking of all the stories rooted in events thousands of years ago that told tales of love and loss. For a time there seemed to be no other place as magical as her home where she would run along the river during the summer while the smell of ripe apricots in the air indicated that it was time to harvest this delectable stone fruit. But as she grew into adolescence she could not help but yearn for something more than what went on in her old-world town and her never-ending chores of helping out her family in their vineyards which was once thrilling as a child but had become a burdensome servitude that only created a stronger desire to escape.

That young woman would travel the world and experience things that were beyond her wildest dreams eventually finding a fast-paced, extremely competitive career in a major city until she got to the time when it all became too much. She would have random panic attacks, find joy in very little, feel each day filled with dread until she walked away from it all, not knowing what she would do next, but she just needed to go back home to her Danube River so she could deeply breath again. There, she walked through the steep vineyards as she had done many times in the past, feeling a wave of peace come over her that she hadn’t felt in a long time and she knew that she needed to come back home and leave the rat race behind, but there was one deep regret; in that moment she would have done anything to change places with that young adolescent to make sure she stayed on the path of helping to run her family’s vineyards or to at least come back sooner… because after a time it had become too difficult for her grandparents to work their labor-intensive vineyards and they sold them off.  The vineyards that had become part of her soul as a child were no longer owned by her family.

Some wine producers become lucky as either they make a name for themselves during the right time or they ride the tidal wave of the success of a wine region that becomes extremely popular around the world, but for many, it is a constant struggle as the overall cost of living and cost of land taxes combined with an uncertain future for a place on the market for one’s wines takes its toll. After World War II, for many European wine regions, the idea of a wine cooperative – a group of vineyard owners working together to create and sell wine – became very popular as a means of survival as it divides the costs among many instead of just one but even cooperatives have faced recent challenging times.

In general, cooperatives can have a reputation for making tons of entry level wine that many times are seen in supermarkets across Europe and during a time when overall consumption of cheap wine has decreased and more wine from around the globe enters the world market, cooperatives are “doomed to fail,” according to Master of Wine Roman Horvath. And Roman would know as he was a wine buyer for Austria’s leading wine retailer Wein & Co but what is interesting is that since 2004 he has been the winery director of a cooperative called Domäne Wachau in the wine area of Wachau (pronounced: va COW) and it seems an odd choice for a man who knows all the issues with such an operation.

Wachau, Austria

It may seem odd to those hardcore Austrian fine wine drinkers that Wachau was only just recently awarded Austria’s version of a quality wine designation, DAC, especially in New York City, as the Grüner Veltliner and Riesling single vineyards from Wachau were highlighted on the wine list of the celebrated Austrian fine dining restaurant Wallsé for over 20 years; and although many of the wonderful wine regions of Austria are today represented on the Wallsé wine list, there is still a special place for the back-vintage Wachau wines that give proof to the ageability of the Riesling and Grüner Veltliner grape varieties. Twenty years ago New York fine wine drinkers may have known very few wine regions in Austria but the one area they did know was Wachau.

Roman said that part of Wachau’s success lies in it being a popular tourist destination since the 1950s as it is only a one hour drive along the Danube River (via car, train or boat) from Austria’s stunning capital city Vienna as well as it being an enchanting landscape on its own. And so there was a significant amount of investment in the vineyards of Wachau and today they still have many of those 50 to 60 year old Grüner Veltliner and Riesling vines. Wachau has had a couple of rock star winemakers that would make a splash as far back as the 1960s and ‘70s but for most in this small wine region, becoming a rock star seemed impossible because of lack of funds, knowledge and making wines that weren’t on the radar for the masses. And so one-third of the small Wachau wine region (only 3,200 acres in total compared to Napa’s 43,000 acres of vineyards) is overseen by a cooperative calledDomäne Wachau – owned by 250 families who have been in Wachau for generations.

Domäne Wachau 

It may have seemed that most cooperatives were doomed in Roman’s opinion, especially during the time when he was a wine buyer, but he does note that there are a few in Europe that are the rare successes producing excellent quality wine and being equally recognized for it such as Produttori del Barbaresco in Barbaresco, Piedmont. So when Roman came to Domäne Wachau he knew it had all the key factors for a potentially successful cooperative: small wine region, great terroir and well-established quality vineyards. But there was no vision or overall structure that would be able to juggle several different bottlings of all the single vineyard wines, marketing and selling them, as well as invest even more into sustainable and quality driven management practices in the vineyards.

The “slow evolution” of Domäne Wachau to a more ultra-premium level organization has been a mammoth task that couldn’t have been possible without Roman’s partnership with its cellar master Heinz Frischengruber as he was able to really zero in on all the top quality, fiercely challenging steep vineyards and channel each individual expression into its own bottling; also making all the vineyards certified sustainable and now working on converting them to organic has been a mountain to climb within itself. It has been one tiny step after another in regards to getting the 250 growers/owners of Domäne Wachau to trust that their wines would be well-received beyond the prejudices that come with the label of being a cooperative and garner the praise as well as a higher price point that they would need to cover the extra expenses of trying to compete in the fine wine world.

Roman said it took a while before the growers were comfortable putting more resources and money into taking this leap and he completely understood because they are gambling their livelihoods on it. But now, as they have seen top wine critics giving them praise and their wines being requested by wine buyers around the world, the growers are pushing Roman to take Domäne Wachau to the next level instead of it being the other way around.

Easy to Make the Right Choices When There is Hope

Domäne Wachau is located where the climate is marginal in terms of ripening wine grapes and although there will be warmer vintages nowadays compared to the past, Wachau will still get cooler vintages that can also be wetter which is a battle in the vineyards to achieve premium grapes in steep vineyards that can only be managed 100% by hand. And Roman said that it is only possible to do what they do because they have 250 growers with small lots and the growers have a “strong bond” with their vines and land and they can react quickly as they live and breathe their vineyards every day.

There are so many Wachau families that have their lives intertwined with the success of Domäne Wachau with each having their own distinctive story while also having a common purpose. One such family is led by Nina Preisberger who has had her 3.7 acres of the single vineyard ‘Ried Bruck’ in her family for several generations and today she is a full-time vintner and full-time mother managing the vines with her grandfather, her small children learning at a very young age the importance of generations working side by side to preserve their land.

That story of the young girl leaving Wachau to live a seemingly more adventurous life who realizes when it is too late that she was happiest when she was in her family’s vineyard never happened. But that scenario has been a road that many others around the world have gone down because there was never any hope that one could keep the family business going as the world changed around her and her family’s legacy had become obsolete. Yet what Roman Horvath and Heinz Frischengruber have done with Domäne Wachau is show the growers that they can move with the times and become part of the fine wine world not only bringing in more money that will help with generational survival but also give people the pride and fulfillment of being part of something special.

Nina could have been that girl who left but instead she is a partner in a successful wine company that is run by herself and her neighbors while never having to sacrifice establishing those same precious memories for her kids that she formed as a child playing in the same vineyard with her family.

***This article was originally published in Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2021/08/15/250-wine-grape-growing-families-in-austria-produce-excellence-by-banding-together/?sh=65a1fbe66b09

A couple of points that are important to understanding the labeling of the wines below: anytime there is the word ‘Ried’ before a name, that indicates a single vineyard as opposed to just a brand name that refers to a wine that comes from grapes throughout Wachau, such as the ‘Terrassen’ wine below that contains grapes from various terraced vineyards on steep hills in Wachau.

Also, Federspiel is a style that is a tier above the entry level Steinfeder (typically only seen in Austria) as it is picked from high quality vineyards later and gives a wonderful sense of varietal characteristics of grape varieties such as Grüner Veltliner and Riesling as well as a stronger sense of place; the Smaragd style is the highest level and picked even later than Federspiel and sourced from some of the best vineyards and these styles are known for more concentration, intensity and an ability to age for decades.

2020 Domäne Wachau, Grüner Veltliner Federspiel ‘Terrassen’, Wachau, Austria: 100% Grüner Veltliner. White pepper and peach flavors with round texture and creamy body with a lot of mouthwatering acidity that finishes with lemon confit. Roman noted that 2020 was a cooler year so it was displaying “pronounced acidity” that he said would balance out in a year and a half as it was just bottled.

2018 Domäne Wachau, Riesling Federspiel, ‘Ried Bruck’, Wachau, Austria: 100% Riesling. Flinty minerality and a multi-layered expression of lime with lime sorbet, lime zest and lime blossom that had an exotic green mango and green papaya note with a fun combination of juiciness and sharp edged acidity. 2018 was one of the warmest years they had in the Wachau, Roman noted, but since the Bruck vineyard is one of their coolest climate plots in the Wachau, even in warm years the “firm acidity” and “raciness” is still present.

2019 Domäne Wachau, Grüner Veltliner, Smaragd, ‘Ried Achleiten’, Wachau, Austria: 100% Grüner Veltliner. More earthy spices such as turmeric rather than white pepper and a subtle nuttiness (that comes from the variety Grüner Veltliner, according to Roman) with almond slivers that had a tart edge on the palate balanced by a hint of poached pears in rich syrup. 2019 was a warm, dry vintage without any extreme weather events.

2019 Domäne Wachau, Riesling, Smaragd, ‘Ried Achleiten’, Wachau, Austria: 100% Riesling. Smoky minerality with laser-like acidity, pristine stone fruit and a fierce saline finish that was absolutely captivating; an electric Riesling that is quite a beauty with a long life in front of it.

1996 Domäne Wachau, Riesling, Smaragd, ‘Ried Achleiten’, Wachau, Austria: 100% Riesling. There was more of a trend for concentrated, richer wines in the ‘90s and so it was common for Wachau producers to add 5% to 10% of noble rot grapes (botrytis) during those times and hence this wine shows those spicy, marmalade and toffee notes quite well, especially considering that it was seen as a lesser vintage because it was a cool, wet year in ‘96 as opposed to the great ‘95 and ‘97. But this delicious 25 year old Riesling is still a wonderful example of how amazing it can be with age when it comes to these top sites and among the decadent notes there was still plenty of marked acidity and fresh tangerine and saline minerality to balance it all out. Roman said that the practice of adding botrytis has fallen out of favor, although there are still a couple of producers who do it well, and that Domäne Wachau doesn’t add any today in their dry wines as they want pure, fresh wines.

In a little village within the wine region of Alsace in northeastern France, five three-year-old children gathered together for pre-school among a community of wine grape growers. The children were asked to draw pictures that represented what they wanted to be when they grew up and so four of the kids, all boys, drew tractors and vines as they wanted to be grape growers and winemakers like their fathers but the one little girl didn’t have winemaking parents and so she was curious about these pictures that the boys drew as well as their enthusiastic descriptions of their fathers’ job. “I want to work in the vineyards too!” the girl exclaimed but everyone else was dumbfounded by such a statement from a little girl as it was known during those times that it was the men who worked in the vineyards and winery.

Four decades have passed and that little girl, Agathe Bursin, grew into an accomplished winemaker who has some of her vines in the most coveted vineyard in her small village of Westhalten with only around 15 small wine producers that work outside of the large co-op wineries¹ that is 12 miles from Colmar – known as the “Little Venice” of France. Agathe’s maternal grandparents were vineyard owners who were part of one of the local wine co-ops who had four children, two boys and two girls, and it was commonplace to leave vineyards to the male children. But Agathe said her grandparents were ahead of their time and they said, “Four children four parts” when it came to the inheritance of their vineyards. Agathe’s mother had no interest in maintaining vineyards so she allowed one of her brother’s to work her plots until Agathe told her that she wanted to become a winemaker and so her mother gave her the plots, seven acres in 2000 and eventually she would grow it to 17 acres – all farmed organically and some vineyards being quite steep.

After studying winemaking in Burgundy and refining her white winemaking skills while working for a producer in Chablis and then improving her ability to work with steep vineyards and various micro-plots by working with a producer in the Rhône Valley, she came back with a fierce determination to express the many different nuances in her vineyards that included the famous Zinnkoepflé Grand Cru vineyards in Westhalten.

Changes Implemented by the Women of Alsace

The very fact that Agathe went against the grain by not only saying that she wanted to become a winemaker over 20 years ago but that she also wasn’t going to just be part of a co-op as she would make her own wines under her own label Agathe Bursin makes her a positive force for change.

Yet she is not the only woman making changes as 34-year-old Lydie and 29-year-old Marine Sohler completely took over their family winery, Domaine Sohler Philippe, in 2016. These sisters divide duties by having Lydie in the winery as the winemaker and Marine looking over the vineyards as vineyard manager in their small town of Nothalten, Alsace. Lydie’s winemaking philosophy mainly focuses on allowing their white wines to age on their fine lees (sediment after fermentation) in the neutral stainless steel vessels for several weeks, as she believes the aromatics become more complex, with the exception of their Clos Rebberg Pinot Gris and their red wine, Pinot Noir Mateo, as they both age in barrel for 12 to 18 months. They also ferment each plot in its own tank whether it is from a Grand Cru vineyard or a lieu-dit (a plot with a traditional name although not officially classified). One of the biggest changes is their first attempt at an orange wine, a white wine that is fermented on the skins, that is a blend that includes the skin and juice of the Riesling and Sylvaner grapes but only the juice of the Pinot Gris grapes. Lydie and Marine “love” orange wines but their father and mother are not so sure that it is a good idea and so their 2020 vintage of their orange wine will be a true test to show their parents that they can make a “good orange wine” and Lydie expressed that it has been her favorite project as both herself and Marine have worked together in the cellar making it and typically that doesn’t happen.

An orange wine is also made by Mélanie Pfister at her family’s newly renamed estate called Domaine Mélanie Pfister in Dahlenheim, Alsace and her orange wine is a Pinot Gris that receives two weeks of skin contact that is called ‘Macération’ and it had its first vintage in 2018. But that is not the only change that Mélanie has made as she has had the great fortune to be able to do internships at some of the top wine estates in the world such as Méo-Camuzet in Burgundy, Cheval Blanc in Bordeaux and Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace just to name a few. Some of her takeaways from these internships include learning biodynamic practices from Zind-Humbrecht, and Mélanie is currently converting her vineyards over to biodynamic after she has been organic for many years and she will be certified organic starting with the 2021 vintage, as well as the importance of blending which she learned from Cheval Blanc leading to her creation of ‘Mel’ (representing her name Mélanie and the French word mélange meaning mixture) that is a white blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer and Muscat.

Although Alsace is known for their white wines, they also make red wines from Pinot Noir as well and since Mélanie studied at Méo-Camuzet, known for making some of the top Pinot Noir wines such as their Grand Cru ‘Clos de Vougeot’, she decided once she came back to her family estate that her first task would be to make the Pinot Noir. “Okay papa I will take charge of the Pinot Noir”, Mélanie announced to her father. But her father said instead they would split the Pinot Noir plot and he would make his wine and she would make her wine and then they would compare and decide which one was better. Since Mélanie felt that Pinot Noir was more about “delicacy and subtlety” she would use a cooler temperature while fermenting and less extraction and her father agreed that her Pinot was better and she would take over the winemaking completely in 2008. Today she continues that relationship with Méo-Camuzet by buying used barrels from them which she uses for her Pinot Noir.

Mélanie is the first women to take over her family vineyards in eight generations and Muriel Gueth is also eighth generation and the first women to take over at her family estate Domaine Gueth which is located in Gueberschwihr, Alsace.

Muriel worked for a German wine producer who was organic back in the mid-90s and so when she came back to her family’s estate, working organically was a priority and today her estate is certified with the HEV (High Environmental Value) organization which allows a bit more freedom than being fully organic certified. Muriel is 100% organic but she has small plots that are surrounded by her neighbors’ plots who are not organic so she feels it would not be completely honest to become certified organic until her neighbors are also organic but she is hopeful that she will be certified in the future as many of her neighbors have started sustainable practices. When Muriel completely took over the winemaking in 1996, she still wanted to be respectful to her father and so she kept her father’s name Jean-Claude Gueth on the label as well as his traditional ways of blending different terroirs together for most of the wines. But finally in 2020 she started placing her own name on the single plot bottlings she has been working on for many years as her own personal project as she has found some of her vines, especially the old vines, have a distinctive expression that needs to be isolated so that specific plot can be expressed in the wine.

Changes Implemented by the Older Generation

But it wouldn’t be fair to talk about these changes without recognizing those that were initially implemented by the older generation. Certainly Agathe Bursin’s maternal grandparents were ahead of their time when they divided up their vineyard between their two boys and two girls making it possible for Agathe to have her own vineyards. Lydie and Marine Sohler credit their father for always having mostly organic practices and so for them it was a “small leap” to start the certification process.

Mélanie Pfister’s father also made it an easy leap for organics as well as he was a real pioneer by stopping the use of herbicides in the 1980s and it was her parents’ idea for her to change the name of their family estate to Mélanie Pfister as there was another Domaine Pfister that was started a while back and it created confusion on local restaurant lists. It was much harder for Mélanie to make this name change for the estate as she didn’t know if it was the right thing to do but her parents looked at it in a practical way and knew this was the best thing for the survival of their family estate. Muriel Gueth was always thankful that her parents had bought modern stainless steel tanks and a pneumatic wine press decades ago as it really helped her from the very beginning to make quality wine but most of all she appreciates how open-minded they were in trusting her so early on to take over the winemaking.

Agathe Bursin has a very strict philosophy of bottling one variety from a specific soil and never mixing, for example, one Riesling plot with another Riesling plot with different soil types. She very much believes in the idea of terroir as being ideally expressed by one grape from one soil. Yet back in 2001, she received a call from a friend who inherited an old vineyard, around 75 years old, but her friend didn’t know what to do with it because she worked in a hospital and she had no desire to manage a vineyard. Agathe said she would buy it but her friend quickly warned her that she would have to replant the vineyard as it was a mess with various varieties all mixed in with each other. Although Agathe already had her own firm opinions of how vineyards should be planted, she was curious and decided to make wine from the vineyard before replanting. The vineyard is a composite of five Muscat vines, 15 Pinot Gris, 20 Riesling, 20 Gewürztraminer, 20 Sylvaner, 20 Pinot Blanc and two vines of Pinot Noir and to Agathe’s amazement all of the vines ripened at the same time which is shocking as outside of this vineyard these different varieties ripen at various times. She even says there is a Muscat vineyard right next to this co-plantation vineyard (field blend) planted at the same time that ripens at a different time as the Muscat does in the co-plantation vineyard.

It is a complete mystery to Agathe how it is possible that all of the varieties in this co-plantation vineyard ripen at the same time yet the one thing she does know is that she loves how all these varieties are expressed in one wine and she is so happy that she decided to wait until she made wine from it before she pulled out the vines. And it is a wonderful lesson that one should not just change for the sake of change as progress and evolution should ideally be creating a better situation for all involved such as the progress of all of these family estates that are now run by women; women who just happened to be the ideal choices to take on the responsibility of their families’ vineyards as well as being very mindful and thankful of the gifts that were passed down from the generations that preceded them.

***Originally published in Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathrinetodd/2021/08/07/women-making-changes-in-their-family-wine-estates-in-alsace-france/?sh=779c63675c3b

Agathe Bursin Wines

2019 Agathe Bursin, Riesling ‘Bollenberg’, Vin d’Alsace: Wet stones, saline minerality and grapefruit on the palate with mouth watering acidity.

2019 Agathe Bursin, Zinnkoepflé Grand Cru Riesling: Floral, salted lemon rind with juicy peach mid-palate that had good weight and a long finish with fierce acidity.

 2018 Agathe Bursin, Zinnkoepflé Grand Cru Gewürztraminer, Vendages Tardives: Rose oil, lychee syrup, nice amount of sweetness with some Turkish delight and apple strudel notes and a lush texture. 95 g/l residual sugar.

2018 Agathe Bursin, Pinot Noir ‘Strangenberg’, Vin d’Alsace: Earthy with rich fruit of blackberry and tea leaves finishing with a note of smoldering embers.

Domaine Sohler Philippe Wines

2017 Domaine Sohler Philippe, Alsace Grand Cru ‘Muenchberg’ Riesling: Intense peach aromas and ripe stone fruit flavors on the nose with some flinty minerality with good weight, vivid fruit (nectarine and peach) and racy acidity.

2018 Domaine Sohler Philippe, ‘Heissenberg’ Riesling: White flowers and star anise with lots of wet stones and a flintiness on the palate; lean with sharp acidity and notes of lemon zest.

2017 Domaine Sohler Philippe, Gaïa White Blend: 60% Riesling from a mixture of volcanic and sandstone soil, 20% Muscat from sandstone soil and 20% Pinot Gris from marly sandstone soil. Three different grape varieties from three different soils; a mix of floral, white pepper and golden apples that had a lean palate – linear.

2017 Domaine Sohler Philippe, Pinot Noir: Earthy and dark fruit on the nose with bright acidity, black cherries and dried herbs on the palate with a light body and fine tannins with hints of forest floor.

Domaine Gueth Wines

2017 Domaine Gueth, Riesling, ‘Original’sace’: Stony nose with lime juice and citrus blossom with smoky minerality.

2017 Domaine Gueth, Riesling, Vieilles Vignes (Old Vines): Richer flavors with lemon meringue, white flowers and electric acidity with plenty of fleshy peach flavors on the palate to balance it out.

2018 Domaine Gueth, Les Grès Roses: A white blend of Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois from ‘Ruescht’ plot and Pinot Gris from ‘Aschqeg’ plot that both are a mixture of clay marl and sandstone soils – the pure pink sandstone terroir of the Vosges. Round body, floral with white strawberries and a saline finish. 

2017 Domaine Gueth, Sylvaner, Vieilles Vignes (Old Vines): Broad body with hints of almond, toasted spices with broken limestones giving it minerality.

***Wasn’t able to sample recent vintage of Domaine Mélanie Pfister wines but I have had her wines many times in the past and they have always been extremely impressive.

Footnote:
¹A winemaking co-op is typically a group of vineyard owners working together to create and sell wine.

My trip to the Montalcino area of Tuscany in Italy last October to visit Brunello di Montalcino producers seems like another lifetime ago. The first inklings of the coronavirus were back in December but it seemed nothing more than a mild virus that was on the other side of the world in the city of Wuhan in China. In the world of sensational news it is no longer so easy to tell what could be a potential crisis as opposed to what is just one of the many things that flood our news cycle that has very little importance. Once the national government of China found out about a possible highly-transmittable virus that had seemingly mutated to the point where it could not only transmit from bat to human but it could easily be passed from human to human the government did everything possible to lock down the area. As we know now, the virus had been around longer and hence unknowingly people were transmitting it to each other around the world, many of us not completely understanding it, and it jumped from China to Europe and then it took its wrath out on New York City – my beloved home.

Covid-19

As all of us know, northern Italy, especially Lombardy, and New York City were hit hard by Covid but it could have been a lot worse if we didn’t go into lockdown – a scenario I think, culturally speaking, Italians and New Yorkers could never imagine. Every day decisions during the height of the Covid-19 here in NYC had the weight of equaling life or death while everything that framed our previous bustling lives fell by the wayside. In those quiet moments when I would try to make sure that the darkness of depression did not take its hold when inundated by the long list of people I knew who lost family and colleagues, I would think of those things that brought me glimmers of joy in the past… spending time with Brunello wine producers were one such joyous memory.

The one major positive aspect that has come out of such a tragedy is that it really forced people to examine their lives without being distracted by the constant grind many of us have to constantly abide by. Instead of seeing injustices as a general thing that can never be conquered, we were inundated during the coronavirus crisis with heart wrenching individual stories of the inequalities of our society over and over again that became the main priority of our existence; combine that with not feeling overwhelmed with our own jobs and struggling to survive in a “paused” state, we decided to place our own lives on the line to demand change. And it struck me how powerful a person’s story can be if enough people are in a situation where they can take the time to see it and allow themselves to process it. This idea of focusing on the individuality of something was what made an impression on me at a small Brunello estate called Le Chiuse.

Le Chiuse

One sunny day last October I was walking among historic vineyards that were at the heel of the hill of Montalcino in Tuscany not knowing how quickly my world would change in a matter of months. My group was there to meet family owner and winemaker Lorenzo Magnelli of the Le Chiuse estate who comes from the famous Biondi-Santi lineage. In 1869, Clemente Santi was the first producer on record to have a wine called Brunello and then a few generations later, Tancredi Biondi-Santi would help to establish regulations for Brunello di Montalcino starting in 1966. Tancredi left his vineyards to his son and daughter (Lorenzo Magnelli’s grandmother) but Lorenzo said his grandma was much more interested in living in the city so her brother Franco included her vineyards in the Biondi-Santi Riserva Brunello di Montalcino. At a certain point Lorenzo’s mother, with the help of Lorenzo’s father, Nicolò Magnelli, wanted to make their own wine which took the name Le Chiuse as that property was given that name by the Biondi-Santi family long ago.

There are many incredible aspects about the Le Chiuse wines such as the vineyards having historical importance with the much cherished ‘galestro’ soil, the highly respected Biondi-Santi Sangiovese clone (BBS11) and natural ferments that produce a Brunello that focuses on the expression of place, yet it is their harvest practices that were the most intriguing to me. All of their Rosso di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino and Riserva Brunello di Montalcino wines come from their Le Chiuse estate although they do several different harvests, a few days apart from each other, to select bunches of grapes for their varying wines.

Since their Rosso di Montalcino wines need to be fresher and easier to drink earlier, the “bigger” grapes with “lower density of tannins” are the best compared to the smaller grapes with greater concentration and structure which are ideal for the Brunello di Montalcino. All the grapes are harvested by hand by a group of ten to twelve family members who have come to know “each vine by name”. The strict selection of grapes are made in the vineyards so that the grape bunches are taken from the vines to the tank within “20 minutes” to keep the “integrity of the grapes”. The Riserva is only made in those vintages where the wines have the structure and concentration for long aging and, starting with the 2010 Riserva, it is aged for ten years.

Missing Promising Excellence

Although Lorenzo noted that many times it was the older vines that would always yield the grapes destined for Brunello, there were always surprises by a bunch here and bunch there from other vines. It takes a lot more time and investment of energy as it would be easy to only take from those designated vines for the top wine and to always assume that everything else was not up to the high quality but then the wines would always be missing out on their ultimate promise. We find ourselves in New York City and all over the world finally taking action in regards to the idea that not everyone is given the same rights and we are missing out in investing in people who will help bring us to the next level; yes, it will take more time, more energy to find the promise of the people and places typically ignored but besides it being worth it because it is the right thing to do, it will bring us closer to the great ideal dream that was promised to us… as we only reach our promise when we recognize the best of the best in every corner and shade of color in the world.

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Tasting on October 9th, 2019 at Le Chiuse Winery:

2017 Le Chiuse, Rosso di Montalcino DOC, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Le Chiuse has been certified organic since 2005. Such pretty fruit with sweet red cherries balanced by a mixture of dried flowers and fresh tarragon.

2014 Le Chiuse, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. An enticingly fragrant wine that displays the pure elegance and breathtaking beauty of Sangiovese with an electric energy that brightened the black cherry and baking spice notes that finished with a smoky minerality and had an overall enchanting finesse, especially considering that 2014 was a challenging vintage.

2015 Le Chiuse, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. 2015 was warmer with less rain than 2014 and so this was a bigger, more structured wine that had chewy tannins and much more brooding fruit and a freshly tilled earth component that gave it an intriguing complexity on the finish. This is a wine built for some serious long term aging yet it was surprisingly showing pretty floral notes with an underlining mineral note waffing in the background.

2010 Le Chiuse, ‘Diecianni’, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, Tuscany, Italy: 100% Sangiovese. Lorenzo called this a “muscle vintage” and it had so much structure that it could not be released until the beginning of 2020. Extremely complex with tobacco, licorice and forest floor; decadent yet exquisite, savory yet sweet with tannins that were like thick ribbons of silk that held the wine with grace while still having lots of plush fruit with great intensity along the extraordinarily long finish.

Legs paralyzed by fear, heart furiously pounding and thoughts in panic mode all told me that I could have been making one of the biggest mistakes of my life! In a nutshell, that wraps up the most overwhelming moment I take away from my last vacation with my husband, in New Zealand. My best and worst moments in New Zealand – a place that I have dreamt of visiting for over 19 years – took place hiking the continual upward slope of a particular trail to reach the summit.

My husband and I were able to take two week long vacations this year instead of just the one week during the summer. Previously, I had been given the opportunity to go on a wine press trip to New Zealand, a place with unique animals, plants and landscapes that I desperately wanted to see, but it was two weeks long. I never like to take press trips that extend more than a week, and for me, the shorter the better as I am always juggling a lot of work as a freelancer. When I am on a press trip I am working while dealing with 15 hour days that are typical for such media trips and it ends up being exhausting, especially when you are burnt out from the long days of taking notes, social media posts, outlining possible article ideas while answering emails only to be forced to stay up for hours more once back at the hotel room to catch up on freelance work. Also, I like being there on a daily basis for those who are the most important people in my life and so I hate to be away from home, my loved ones and my community for too long. And once I found out that my husband, the most important person in my life and the number one person I hate to be away from, really wanted to go to New Zealand, we decided to look for deals to see if it could be possible.

After a year and a half of planning, the time finally came when we would take this trip which took place a couple of weeks ago, a 30 hour journey each way – a lot longer than some other routes but it was half the price of these other offerings – and I would finally see the place I had dreamt about and, better yet, got to share it with my best friend. We only had five and a half days to enjoy New Zealand on the ground so our plan was to go to the South Island (there are two islands: North Island and South Island), flying into Christchurch then driving down to Queenstown seeing the raw, untouched beauty that was like no other place.  We had a few side trips from Queenstown and we devoted a whole day to Fiordland National Park (which is far from being enough time) in the southwestern section of the South Island which is around 3 million acres of mountains, lakes, fiords, rainforest environments and so much more. We took many walks through various sections of the Fiordland National Park but none would be as challenging as a section of the Routeburn Track that was a three hour return hike and took us to an array of alpine plants at the summit. While the sparsely populated track had other hikers who seemed to be fairing better than us – some even carrying toddlers on their backs – I was not prepared for this endeavor.

Weingut Beurer 

As odd as it seems, during my times of feeling overwhelmed and straight out panicked at various points of this hike, I had flashes of a visit back in September with a small German wine producer named Weingut Beurer. New Zealand is a great wine producing country but we only visited one wine producer because we only had a little over five days on the ground to visit the natural wonders that brought us to that land and I wanted us to mainly be able to spend time alone without too much work involved (I am currently working on a separate article for the producer we visited). As I was constantly trying to figure out a way to get my non-athletic body up the seemingly never ending slope, along with the Routeburn Track path turning into a narrow walkway with slippery, broken rocks that skirted the edge of a mountain, the wines of Jochen Beurer (owner of Weingut Beurer) kept popping in my mind.

Jochen Beurer is a wine producer located in the southern part of Germany in the Württemberg region that is known for warmer weather, wines that are less distinctively German and influenced by an array of European countries and big smiles among its people. Every press trip I go on I always debate whether it is worth it considering the amount of work I always have to do and the exhaustion I have to battle yet meeting someone like Jochen, in his humble house with a tiny cellar on a cloudy rainy day, is one of those moments that makes these trips worth it. He very much downplayed his operation and he seemed very conscious that he was a tiny producer that made wines that perhaps were not for everyone. He did not have a grand place or take us to a cool, fancy restaurant but his wines were electric, rich and utterly intriguing.

Jochen wines are organic and biodynamic certified through Demeter and he uses a low amount of sulfur, spontaneous fermentations with natural yeasts as well as allowing malolatic fermentation to complete; also he implements long skin contact with his Riesling wines that range from three months to two and a half years. He is one of the producers who has inspired a more serious look at the wines of Württemberg as it is historically a region that is known for wine cooperatives that produce quaffable wines. But over 20 years ago, Jochen, his father and wife decided to leave the cooperative and today they own 32 acres (13 hectares) of vineyards with some top vineyards sites for Riesling that are considered 1er Cru and Grand Cru level sites.

Nothing

Jochen Beurer’s mission to make wines that were “joyful to drink” with a strong sense of place were criticized for many years, and still get odd looks, as he is always pushing the envelope as he won’t allow the chatter to make him doubt his path. The idea of blocking these negative thoughts and fears from his mind started when he was very young as he was the BMX European bike champion in 1992. Although he had the intention to always come back and make wine with his father in the cooperative, for a time he was performing in BMX competitions performing jaw-dropping tricks… I only found this out because I looked up his background and asked him about it. He actually has one wine that pays tribute to that time called ‘Nothing’. Nothing is the name of a trick where the rider jumps up in the air and lets go of the bike completely (no feet and no hands) and it is called nothing as the hardest part of it is getting past the initial instinct of fear and panic because everything in the body just wants to hold onto the bike; you have to have a clear mind to do it. As Jochen said, the slogan of BMX is ‘no brain, no pain’ and there on the label of his Nothing wine was a drawing based on a photo of him doing the trick.

One has to practice a lot before performing such a trick just like one has to do for quality winemaking; in regards to wine, Jochen has received a formal education, done internships at modern wineries, worked with natural wine legend Elisabetta Foradori in Trentino, Northern Italy, but when it comes to the toughest part – spending decades going against the convention of one’s neighbors, snobbery from more established regions and the weight that bills need to be paid and passion doesn’t pay bills, none of those aforementioned things in the wine world could prepare Jochen with his internal fight against the barrage of negative fears more than performing the ‘Nothing’ over and over again. The Nothing wine is on the skins (crushed berries with seeds) for two and a half years, wild ferment, unfiltered and he used no sulfur in this wine. He is actually holding experiments by bottling and cellaring this no sulfur wine to see how long it will gracefully age.

Brain: Greatest Asset and Worst Enemy

Certainly, I am not advocating just throwing oneself into a potentially dangerous situation without being prepared. Jochen said that, unfortunately, he has a couple of friends who did end up in wheelchairs because of the risks of performing such tricks, just like there are many warnings to hikers in regards to the various New Zealand trails as temperatures plummet quickly and some tracks are for more experienced hikers. As I was up there on this trail, looking down the steep cliff that triggered my fear of heights which was only heightened by the rain coming down, I was able to assess the situation… I told myself, “Well, there are many trees along the side of the mountain that would stop me from falling” and I paid attention to where I was stepping as well as kept conscious of how cold it was getting and if we were wearing enough layers. But every so often I would see people hiking with little kids and I would yell inside of my own head, “Okay if they can do it I can do it!” It may seem silly to talk about an Intermediate Track with such fear near the adventure capital of the world, Queenstown,(where bungee jumping was invented) but my experience in life prepares me to work 15 hour days in front of a computer not to hike up a mountain, and sure as hell not to bungee jump!

What Jochen Beurer accomplished on a BMX bike was much more extraordinary than my hike but it was symbolic of all of us taking on what is holding us back; standing up for ourselves, proclaiming our worth, being a force for good in the world or making wines with passion although they receive unpleasant comments from other winemakers. Our brain is designed to protect us from harm but how many times has your brain hurt you in other ways? Kept you from your purpose? The brain can hurt us in ways that gnaw at our soul and make us give up hope. I don’t know what Jochen’s wines were like when he first started but, surprisingly, his long skin contact wines today are not overtly tannic or astringent to drink, as a matter of fact they are pure, vital and delicious with just the right amount of complexity, structure and tension to make them ‘joyful to drink’ in his own words; and maybe that is the key to joy… finding a way to let go of the brain when you know it is going to cause major pain.

 

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The Weingut Beurer vineyards are specifically located in the town of Stetten that has cooler winds, expositions that avoid direct sunlight and higher elevations over 1,300 feet (400 meters) making it more ideal for Riesling than some other areas in the Württemberg region of Germany.

Jochen Beurer has also been on a mission to save ancient native grape varieties that are becoming extinct such as Adelfränkisch which he believes has existed in Germany for over 1,000 years. He has also started selecting his own clones in his Riesling vineyards as he thinks some are more suited for long skin contact fermentation. I would have loved to have talked to him more about this but our time was limited with him.

Wines Tasted at Weingut Beurer on September 8th, 2019

-2018 Weingut Beurer, Weiss Trocken: Blend of Müller-Thurgau, Silvaner, and Weissburgunder grape varieties from a mixture of parcels. It is juicy and fruit forward with stone fruit and good amount of body with a refreshing finish.

-2018 Weingut Beurer, Riesling Trocken, VDP Gutswein: 100% Riesling. This Riesling is from a mixture of parcels as well and Jochen calls this his ”breakfast Riesling”. It is certainly a great way to start the day with lovely honeysuckle notes and a hint of smoky minerality with a touch of white peach skin.

-2017 Weingut Beurer, Riesling, “Gipskeuper”: 100% Riesling from southeastern facing vines at around 900 feet (280-310 meters) elevation planted in pre-Jurassic shale that had generous nectarine fruit with wet stones and more structure and body of the previous wine.

-2017 Weingut Beurer, Riesling, “Schilfsandstein”: 100% Riesling from Schilfsandstein soils that represent the reed beds of an ancient sea (alkaline and laden with quartz) that is located 1,080 feet (310-340 meters) above sea level and comes from 35 year old vines. Intense energy from this wine with a linear focus and crisp acidity that was heightened by citrus zest; finish was long with a chalky note on the end.

-2017 Weingut Beurer, Riesling, “Kieselsandstein”: 100% Riesling from 35 year old vines as well yet comes from a younger soil than Schilfsandstein called Kieselsandstein  from sandstone soils (feldspar, mica, quartzite and dolomite) and is mineral-driven. Fiercely mineral with wet stones with a savory dried herb quality and an overall beautiful floral component – a Riesling with grip and structure that still retains its finesse.

-2017 Weingut Beurer, Riesling, “Junges Schwaben”, 1er Cru Vineyard (VDP Erste Lage): 100% Riesling from Jochen’s highest vineyard over 1,300 feet (400 meters) located at the top of the Stettener Häder vineyard. The slope here is so steep that a horse is used for much of the farming, and the soils are sandstones mixed with calcareous marls and clays. Cooler temperatures make this one of the last vineyards harvested. The purity of fruit on this wine is simply breathtaking with a hint of spice and honey on the elegantly structured finish. Jochen formed a group with four other winemakers in the area back in 2001 so they could share knowledge and taste each other’s wines while helping to promote each other and they call themselves Junges Schwaben – translated into Young Swabians (Germanic people who are native to the Swabia area which is now mostly divided between the modern states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria). Each producer bottles one wine that represents their varietal specialty (they each specialize in a different grape) and Jochen represents the Riesling specialist and so this is his Junges Schwaben bottling; they also do collaborative projects of various libations.

-2016 Weingut Beurer, Riesling, Stettener Pulvermächer, “Berge”, Grand Cru Vineyard (VDP Grosse Lage/ Grosses Gewächs): 100% Riesling from one of the top Riesling vineyards in Württemberg, the Grand Cru Pulvermächer. An extremely textured wine with a rich waxy quality that was balanced by vibrant acidity with flavors of baked apples laced with saline minerality. Jochen has a great quality to his wines that are at once decadent yet electric and this Grand Cru is a great example!

-2016 Weingut Beurer, Riesling, “Nothing”: 100% Riesling that has been on the skins (whole berries filled 50% of a 500 liter neutral barrel) for two and a half years with no sulfur added and unfiltered. Jochen says it is an orange wine without being orange as the color looked gold instead of orange or amber. Blood orange flavors with a hint of fresh sea urchin with Pineapple Underside-Down Cake and crunchy acidity that lingered with the smell of a forest after a rainy day. A wine that I could have sat with for a while just like when we made it to the summit of that track in New Zealand surrounded by wild alpine plants with the cold rain falling on our faces looking onto the other mountains as the fog surrounded us… it was like we were among the clouds… floating.