Kirchberg Oberrotweil Chardonnay GG 2022

Intense straw yellow in the glass. A fine reduction lies over the bouquet like a haze, beneath which emerge pear, quince, mirabelle plum and star fruit, lemon and lime zest, verbena, lemon balm, a touch of fennel greens and yeast dough, along with crushed chalk and fine wood.

The Oberrotweiler Kirchberg is one of the six VDP Grosse Lage vineyards of the Franz Keller estate on the Kaiserstuhl. The site faces south-west, and the soil consists of pale, calcareous volcanic scree that gives the estate's wines their minerality. It was planted in the early 1990s with genetics from Burgundy's finest vineyards.

Chardonnay, spontaneously fermented after a short skin contact and fermented dry to 0 grams residual sugar, 12.5% vol. Ageing lasted twelve months in 350-litre oak barrels with 35% new wood, followed by six months in steel tank, on full lees throughout. The work takes place in the cellar completed in 2013, built in terraces into the hillside following the gravity principle; ageing is overseen by Uwe Barnickel and Christian Häuber.

Elegant, fine and almost effortlessly drinkable, with a wild, untamed side. Juicy pear, ripe quince and plenty of ripe citrus fruit, alongside spicy, lightly smoky wood notes. But above all, a wine of texture and structure: fine grip, chalky texture, juicy acidity, precisely judged wood. The tension builds from the very start and holds through to the long finish, precise, subtle and vivid.

The estate farms 35 hectares on the Kaiserstuhl. Friedrich Keller has run it since 2016 as the fourth generation, gradually converting it to organic viticulture with biodynamic elements. The maxim in the cellar: as little as possible, as much as necessary.