Königsbacher Heidböhl Sekt Brut Nature 2020

A sparkling wine that softens nothing: bottled without dosage, it displays the acidity of the 2020 vintage openly, and the lees maturation comes through as a fine spiciness rather than sweetness. At 11.5% vol., it stays lean and taut.

The Königsbacher Heidböhl vineyard lies in the Mittelhaardt, where limestone and variegated sandstone form the subsoil. At night, cool air flows down from the Palatinate Forest, ensuring the grapes retain the freshness a sparkling wine needs. Christmann & Kauffmann, founded in 2019 by Steffen Christmann, Sophie Christmann and Mathieu Kauffmann on twelve hectares, is Germany's first fully biodynamic sparkling wine estate and works according to the respekt-BIODYN guidelines.

Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc from the 2020 vintage. The grapes are hand-harvested into 8-kilo crates, and no more than thirteen minutes pass from vine to press. Fermentation happens spontaneously in a large wooden cask, and the wine is bottled without added sulphur and unfined. The single-vineyard sparkling wines from Königsbacher Heidböhl are given five to eight years on the lees.

Fine, persistent mousse. On the nose, ripe yellow apple, brioche and floral notes over a cool, stony freshness. The wine tastes bone-dry, the acidity carries through, a fine richness from the long lees maturation softens it, and the finish remains saline and long.

With oysters and scallops with lemon, with paper-thin Parma ham or sashimi, as well as with veal tartare and matured, salty hard cheese.

Brut Nature here means: no dosage, no added sulphur and unfined. Biodynamic viticulture under respekt-BIODYN, spontaneous fermentation in wooden casks.