The second vintage of Weinschwärmer is with us, and its an absolute belter:
"This is a once in a decade vintage I think" Michael told us recently. "I'm not allowed to have favourites, but everything in this vineyard in 2019 worked perfectly. If I'm in the cellar working on carpentry projects or cleaning, and I'm having a glass- you start to notice the barrels you return more often than the others- I really love this vintage."
15 minutes from the winery, on the Eselberg hill- nearby the Fledermaus and Heimat Silvaner vineyards- is Michael's dads favourite plot, planted with 15 year old Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris). It was the last one to transfer to the 2Naturkinder project whilst Michael's dad was still making wine for his own portfolio before he retired fully.
5 or so years ago, Michael planted a few rows of Riesling alongside the Pinot Gris, playing the long game for when he'd be able to take over the parcel.
Named for the brightly coloured moths that live in the area (a delicacy for their bats) Weinschwärmer is a blend of the two varieties. Pinot Gris fills out the bottom end with fleshy fruit and texture whilst Riesling brings its highlighter strokes of acidity.
The Pinot Gris is left to ripen as far as Michael can risk it, and picked first, left to ferment on the skins for about five days. Picked about a week later, the Riesling is pressed directly before fermentation and the pair age separately in old oak, before coming together in March 2020 in an old barrel to rest, and bottled in March 2021 with no additions.
"Pinot Gris can be tricky to leave ripening, they're such tight bunches and can be really susceptible to rot, but 2019 was super dry, and we got really lucky, the fruit was beautiful."
"A few years ago when my dad was planning retirement, I knew I wanted to do something skin-macerated with the Pinot Gris once I took the parcel over. But Pinot Gris, for all its merits can still be lacking in acidity. So I planted the Riesling, knowing it would make a great blending partner, without having to compromise the single-vineyard wine this parcel deserves"
Aside from the victories in the Grauburgunder vineyard, 2019 was a year of big change for Michael and Melanie; with Michael's parents retiring, his dad's head winemaker resigning much earlier in the year than expected, and yields tightly managed to mitigate fermentation problems thanks to the second consecutive year of drought. Keeping yields low helps the vigour of course, but Michael was concerned he might've got his maths wrong.
"Drought was a problem again in 2019. And noticing the impact in 2018 down in the cellar we were super cautious and reduced the yield- which was not looking promising anyway. We got much better fermentations in 2019 but I remember sitting at my desk one night towards the end of harvest, doing the maths and wondering how we would survive the next year with so few grapes! We had 50% less than the year before."
"But the first big change that year though was my dad’s winemaker leaving us early, in May. Not exactly the timing we had in mind. Some of my parents wines were still to be bottled! So, it was time for me to force myself getting into machine stuff. I’ve never been a machine person. We have this big and complex bottling machine that I had never operated before. I got the hang of it though!"
"It also meant me getting behind the wheel of a tractor more often. I'm not a big fan of tractors either. But I’m getting used to it. There are a few areas though which are scary to drive – steep, very little space to turn before it gets really steep! Not much fun in the rain..."
Partly thanks to the closely-cropped yields, the Silvaner for their Kleine Heimat was of exceptional quality in 2019.
Sourced from one of the only 2Naturkinder parcels planted on the flaky Keuper soils (like their neighbour, Andi Weigand) in the middle of the nearby Schwanberg hill.
Hand de-stemmed and fermented on the skins for 5 days, aged on the lees for 18 months in a combination of steel tank and an old barrel. Racked and blended just before bottling in March 2021 with no additions.
2019 Skins Now Available
Melanie Drese and Michael Voelker - 2Naturkinder
Germany, Franconia, Kitzingen
SKINS
NEW 2019 - Kleine Heimat - Silvaner
SKINS
NEW 2019 - Weinschwärmer - Pinot Gris, Riesling
