2020 Wasenhaus Weissburgunder Landwein
WINEMAKER: Christoph Wolber & Alexander Götze
REGION: Baden, GER
VARIETAL: Pinot Blanc
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic
These berries come from individual small plots in Kaiserstuhl and Staufen. What they have in common, however, is the loess soil on which the vines grow. The grapes were pressed whole and fermented spontaneously . This lasted about 3 months, during which the young wine also went through the malolactic fermentation . In used 228 liter barriques and 600 liter half pieces, the Pinot Blanc spent a year on the yeast and, together with this, another year in stainless steel. The low intervention approach is also used here – nothing is taken away and nothing is added.
Weingut Wasenhaus is located in Baden, Germany. Christoph Wolber and Alexander Götze met in Burgundy during their wine studies at the local school in Beaune. At the same time, they were both working full time in some of the largest biodynamic estates in Burgundy such as those of Pierre Morey, Leflaive, Comte Armand... Shortly after becoming roommates, they worked out the plan to return in Germany and set up their cellar in Baden. In Christoph’s home region, they looked for suitable plots and selected them carefully: one on the slopes of the Ehrenstettener Oelberg, and the other in the Ehrenkirchener Kirchberg. In recent years, they have bought several plots, some with very old vines. They grow their grapes, but also buy grapes from friends’ companies with a similar philosophy that are used in the production of Gutedel. Their first vintage came out in 2016 and it was a great success. Christoph and Alexander perform gentle extractions, with very little punching down during fermentation, and occasionally stirring to ensure healthy fermentation from the start. Sulfur is used judiciously and is only applied after the malolactic fermentation. The wines are all aged in oak barrels.