Dernauer Pfarrwingert 2023

A dark, multi-layered Pinot Noir that feels light and buoyant while remaining powerful and substantial. The estate's distinctly reductive style initially wraps the fruit; beneath it lie cassis, dark raspberry, cherry and sloe, along with roses and violets, stone, lichen, a touch of tar, liquorice, pepper and sea buckthorn, and finally forest floor, foliage and warm peat.

The Dernauer Pfarrwingert lies at 130 to 200 metres, consistently favourably angled and south-facing. The soils consist of weathered greywacke and slate with clay-slate components. Julia Bertram and Benedikt Baltes farm around four hectares of steep sites in Dernau, Ahrweiler and Mayschoss, with some parcels reaching up to 70 percent gradient, fully organic since 2020, at yields of 30 to 40 hectolitres per hectare.

Varietally pure Pinot Noir from an early yet ripe harvest with meticulous selection. Spontaneous fermentation in open stainless-steel tanks, aged over two winters in used large and half-large barrels; the barrels come from German coopers using Franconian oak. Little to no press wine, no chaptalisation, no fining, bottled unfiltered, with only minimal amounts of sulphur added before bottling.

Crisp fruit and acidity at 11.5% ABV, aromatic, finely spiced and juicy. The tannin is supple and fine-grained, the wine precise, clear and pure.

Julia Bertram and Benedikt Baltes bottled their first vintage in 2014 and were immediately named "Discovery of the Year". The 2021 Ahr flood hit Dernau with full force; the estate was rebuilt without compromising on quality. Giving this wine air and time pays off: only once the reductive character dissipates does it show its full potential.