The Swabian Edge - Many Stones But Little Bread
12/5/14 -
Swabia – the southwest corner of Germany – is the birthplace of Schiller and Hegel as well as inventors and industrialists like Gottlieb Daimler and Robert Bosch. There is an old phrase that reflects the somewhat grim natural conditions there: ‘Viel Steine gibts und wenig Brot’ (We have many stones and little bread). The struggle to overcome the region’s historically scarce resources have given Swabians a reputation for strict frugality, as well as creative problem solving and innovation. Of course, the proverbial abundance of stones is of great benefit to their wines, with the best Rieslings showing off a clean, chalky structure gained from the steep, limestone slopes. Here, in a warmer pocket not far from Alsace, there are colder winters but warmer summers than the rest of Germany. The wines almost always ferment dry of their own accord, and on the occasions where there is a bit of residual sugar, the acidity is still poised and racy, another great benefit of the limestone. Though despite having the potential for greatness, few Swabians have aimed terribly high until recently.
Andi Knauss, Jochen Beurer, and Holger Koch are the first in what we hope is a growing movement of ambitious Swabian winemakers. Independently of one another, they began working without the use of chemicals in the vineyards and using only native yeasts in the cellars, with almost no other additions save for small amounts of sulfites. Knauss has even begun working without sulfites for his Trollinger 'Without All.' Beurer is certified biodynamic by Demeter. Knauss and Koch practice organic viticulture.
Beurer’s Rieslings are shockingly pure and so easy to drink that they can be real eye-openers for people who are used to sweet Mosel Rieslings, and even for those who have been drinking dry German Rieslings for a while. The wines are complex and very structured, going through a long, reductive winemaking process on their lees in neutral barrels, and yet they are still graceful, not showing off power and force, instead being superbly versatile food wines.
On the border with France, just 30km from Colmar, Holger Koch specializes in Pinot Noir and Spätburgunder grown on limestone and volcanic soils. Though they are essentially the same grape, the vines he labels Pinot Noir are selection massale plantings from Alsace and Burgundy, while his Spätburgunder vines were those planted by his father 60-70 years ago. His reds are unlike most German red wines, and are free of heavy new oak influence that would sacrifice freshness and purity. It's common practice to chaptalize Swabian red wines (the addition of sugar to fermenting grapes, also permitted in Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Champagne). Koch nevertheless has a remarkable ability to make lush but subtle wines without chaptalizing, and it requires no small amount of effort to pick and select with such scrutiny.
Andi Knauss similarly has a gift for triage and selection. His ‘Without All’ Trollinger is not chaptalized and is further made without fining, filtration, or the addition of sulfites. The first vintage of this bottling, the current release, is a very clean wine without the bottle variation or mousey quality a lot of wines made without sulfites can possess, especially for those just starting to make wines in this method. So Knauss’ first effort is quite extraordinary, and speaks to the intense work he did to use only the best, cleanest, most pristine grapes for this wine.
We are thrilled to have been slowly seduced by the wines of Swabia over the past year or so, as they are all immensely approachable and manage to easily translate the best qualities of their historically austere homeland. Thank goodness for all those stones. Jonathan Kemp
