Engelsfelsen, Badischer Landwein 2020

The Engelsfelsen 2020 is a Pinot Noir that carries fruit and coolness in equal measure: juicy berry fruit, lively acidity, polished tannin. An unadulterated, purist wine.

The grapes come from the uppermost, non-consolidated section of the top vineyard Engelsfelsen in Bühlertal. The slope is extremely steep and, at 75 degrees, is considered one of the steepest in Europe; the terraces at 350 metres are only reachable via adventurously narrow paths. The vineyard faces south, and in the evening cool air flows down from the Black Forest into the valley. The wide temperature swings between day and night explain the intense fruit. The soils consist of very thin, lean granite outcrops.

Pinot Noir, partially destemmed or fermented as whole clusters depending on the vintage. Briefly foot-trodden in small wooden vats, fermented on the skins for around three weeks with moderate pigeage, then pressed on an old basket press; racking took place by gravity flow through the broquereau. Aged exclusively in used wooden barrels, mainly barriques and pièces. No added yeasts, no enzymes, no fining, no filtration, at most 30 mg of sulphur.

The nose is sweet and multi-layered: wild raspberry, sweet morello cherry and sun-warmed blueberry, floral ivy, rose and elderflower, along with cool minerality, fine tobacco, woodsmoke and liquorice. On the palate the impressions merge: juicy fruit, invigorating acidity, polished tannin and saline minerality in a long, gripping finish. Serve decanted and lightly chilled in Burgundy glasses.

The accompaniments should be as purist and intense as the wine itself: fine cured meats such as salami and cured ham from France, porcini mushrooms with walnut oil and thyme or roast poularde with olives, olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes, served with baguette.

Marco Pfliehinger and Uwe Lange have been making wine since 2015 in St. Leon-Rot, in the vaulted cellar of a 17th-century village smithy. They farm their 2.5 hectares entirely by hand according to biodynamic principles; there are no pumps, filters or tractors.