2021 Weingut Ziereisen Gutedel (Chasselas)

100% Gutedel (aka Chasselas), (uncertified) organically farmed on vineyards planted on limestone with tons of iron deposits. Fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel and aged for 13 months on the lees in large “fuder,”the German name for oval wine casks which hold about 1,000 liters, typically used in the Mosel. Bottled without filtration. 

This is so fun, and a wine I’d love to try with all kinds of food. It’s light, low in alcohol (11.5%!), super fresh and buoyant in its acidity but decidedly savory in aroma and flavor. To me, I get notes of salted yellow apple, white flowers, ripe peaches and walnut oil, with just a hint of reduction and an almost oxidative note. It reminds me of wine from the Jura, but with lower alcohol, or like a cross between the wines of the Jura and the Verdicchios of Matelica in the Marche. It’s medium bodied, with tons of texture and a bit of tannic grip. Tastes like yellow apple, melon, umami savoriness and briny sea salt. Delicious!!!

The trained carpenter Hanspeter Ziereisen was already enthusiastic about wine in his childhood and youth days and as a teenager he finally began to search for and taste the best wines of the world. He developed a particular passion for the wines of Burgundy. He founded his winery in 1991 and, with the help of his wife Edeltraut, expanded it to what is now 21 hectares of vines. In the meantime, his two children Ida and Johann also support their parents in the family business, with the aim of possibly taking it over themselves one day.

The work on the vines is almost exclusively done by hand in order to gain a feel for the soil and the vines. Of course, the harvest is also done manually. Parts of the grapes are even double selected to ensure a maximum of flawless grapes and thus the highest quality. The process continues with the selection of the barrels. For many years, the Ziereisen winery has exclusively used new barrels from the Büttnerei of Andreas Assmann, one of the few barrel makers in Germany still working by hand.