Ahrweiler Rosenthal 2023

The Ahrweiler Rosenthal 2023 is one of Julia Bertram and Benedikt Baltes' single-vineyard wines from Ahrweiler, and shows Pinot Noir at 11.5% ABV as a matter of precision, not power. Transparent ruby red in the glass, clearly defined fruit, cool structure.

The vineyard lies above the old town of Ahrweiler, with parcels set on dry-stone terraces, south-facing, at altitudes of 120 to 220 metres. The soil is characterised by greywacke and sandy loess loam with quartzite inclusions. The estate's steep sites demand entirely manual work, with some parcels sloping as much as 70 percent. Cultivation follows organic and biodynamic principles, and the estate has farmed fully organically since 2020, with yields of 30 to 40 hectolitres per hectare.

Varietal Pinot Noir. The fruit is meticulously selected, the grapes ferment spontaneously in open stainless-steel tanks, and ageing takes place in used 600- and 300-litre barrels sourced from German coopers working with Franconian oak. No chaptalisation is used; instead, the wine is deliberately aged in a reductive style. It spends two winters in oak and is bottled without fining and unfiltered, the only addition being a minimal amount of sulphur before bottling.

The reduction typical of the estate is largely integrated, with a touch of gunpowder still lingering over the wine. Beneath it, sweet and sour cherry, raspberry and cassis, along with a hint of brioche, herbs and forest floor. Juicy and eminently drinkable, with lively acidity and fine-grained tannin structure, round on the palate, with fullness and at the same time mineral coolness and freshness.

Julia Bertram and Benedikt Baltes bottled their first vintage in 2014. The 2021 flood hit Dernau with full force: flooded cellars, barrels swept away, lost vintages. The estate was rebuilt without any compromise on quality.