Recently we received new cuvees from Andi Weigand in Iphofen, Franconia. Arriving whilst Andi was in the final paces of the harvest-sprint that 2022 brought, we didn’t have much chance to catch up with him at the time.
Farming just over nine hectares organically with a move towards biodynamics, Andi's wines sing of their particular Keuper soils: flaky layers of calcareous clay and limestone that lend the wine spice, acidity and complexity whilst keeping alcohol low.
With the fruit of 2022 blipping away in barrels and amphorae, we can now turn to look at these in a bit more detail.
"2021 was a very wet and cold vintage during growing season. We had a lot to do to fight against downy mildew and in the end we lost around 30% of our crop to it. But, the grapes that survived were super nice - the acidity stayed really well in 2021 thanks to the cold weather. The wines are now showing brilliant and fresh - we're super happy with the result."
NOW AVAILABLE
SPARKLING
NEW 2021 - Pet Nat - Muller Thurgau, Silvaner, Scheurebe, Riesling
Wonderful balance between the varieties, from vines between 20-40 years old, a little aromatic fruit and spice lifted with Andi's signature lightning bolt of acidity.
WHITE
NEW 2021 - White - Muller Thurgau, Silvaner, Scheurebe, Bacchus
White is the blend of Andi's younger vines, each variety is picked and processed separately. Pressed directly, fermented and aged in large old barrels. The first thing Andi assembles in spring, deciding on the blend before settling in stainless steel for a week to integrate. Bottled with no additions.
NEW 2021 - Silvaner - Silvaner
From a 50+ year old parcel of Silvaner. Andi is incredibly proud of their old vines, particularly in the heat of 2022 : "Their roots go so deep, they can always find what they need. They will look after us for many years" Each white is made the same way, Andi's aim being that a sort-of Weigand House Style develops, and over the years, customers will come to taste more clearly the differences in vintage, knowing little else has changed. In large barrels for 9 months before being bottled directly.
NEW 2021 - MTH - Muller Thurgau
60 year old Muller Thurgau, processed the same as all his white wines, being pressed directly to large barrels via a combination of pneumatic press and a 100 year old basket press, depending on volume. A total of 9 months in barrel before being bottled directly.
NEW 2021 - Chardonnay - Chardonnay
The youngest vines, just 5 years old, which fell victim to the frost of 2020 in their entirety and this wine skipped a year. They fared better in 2021, so we can welcome the return of this cuvee. As with the others, pressed to barrel for 9 months before bottling unfined, unfiltered and with no sulphur.
ROSE
NEW 2021 - Rose - Pinot Noir, Domina
Rosé is a direct-pressing of Pinot Noir, Dornfelder and Domina, like the whites it's fermented and aged in barrel, vibrant, fresh and juicy.
"We travelled up to Jason Groebe and Andi Mann's vineyards to pick some grapes for Rosé. It ended up in there but only a small part of it, most of the grapes are from us. We had to do this last year, because 50% of our own crop for the rosé was destroyed. Normally we want to do everything with our own fruit! This year, thankfully every grape we picked is from our vineyards."
SKIN CONTACT
NEW 2021 - Skin - Silvaner
For the macerations, the 9-month theme continues, with half of the fruit de-stemmed, and half kept whole bunch, macerated together for 9 months in amphora. Fished out by hand pressed gently to tank to settle before bottling with no additions. This is from their parcel of 50 year old Silvaner.
RED
NEW 2021 - Amphora Pinot Noir - Pinot Noir
A parcel of Pinot Noir about 30 years old. If you hadn't guessed by now, the Pinot spends 9 months on it's skins, a mixture of whole-bunch and de-stemmed fruit. Bottled with unfined and unfiltered after settling in tank, no added sulphur.
Questioning what the fixation with keeping everything to 9 months is, Andi stated: "It's like the circle of birth."
Does that make him the wine's mother, or their midwife? "I'm only the midwife." says Andi, "yeast is the mother, always."
With 2022 behind him, Andi is looking forward to seeing how the wines will turn out when he comes to bottle in May next year.
"The 2022 growing season was the total opposite of 2021, really hot and dry in this year. But the harvest was very good, big yields, and we had some rain in mid August that helped a lot to get the grapes full of water again and at my perfect ripeness. It will hopefully be a super fresh and light vintage. You can really look forward to it!"
With an eye on next year, a cuvee we received tiny quantities of this year - already sold out - was one of Andi's favourite wines of 2021, and he's assured there will be much more to go at next year. "Amphora White is like the baby brother of Skin. It's Bacchus and Muller Thurgau from vines 30 to 45 years old, 9 months in amphora like the others. It surprised us the most this vintage, it was our first year trying it and we love it, there will be plenty more in 2022"
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