Riegel Badischer Landwein 2022

A dry Pinot Noir from red granite, whose aroma turns out thick and dark: sweet figs, damson plums and preserved cherries, raisins and maple syrup, alongside cardamom, cinnamon, liquorice and clove. Beneath lie tar, graphite and coffee. Marco Pfliehinger and Uwe Lange call their wines wilful and stubborn; this one proves them right.

The Riegelberg, shortened to Riegel for wine-law reasons, is a very steep, densely planted vineyard on red granite. The topsoil stays thin, giving way to pure rock after just a few centimetres. The vines are old and deeply rooted, drawing their nourishment directly from the rock.

Pinot Noir, 50 percent processed as whole clusters. The must was briefly foot-trodden in small wooden vats, fermentation on the skins lasted about three weeks, pressing took place on an old basket press, with racking by gravity via the broquereau. Ageing took place exclusively in used wooden barrels, mainly barriques and pièces, without yeasts, enzymes, fining or filtration. At bottling, a maximum of 30 mg of sulphur is added.

Juicy fruit sweetness, fine wood spice, saline minerality and lively acidity; the 13.0 percent alcohol keeps the concentration in shape. The finish lingers long and spicy.

Since 2015, soil scientist Marco Pfliehinger and former jazz musician Uwe Lange have been making wine in St. Leon-Rot, in a 17th-century vaulted cellar beneath the old village forge, which gives the estate its name: forge plus the ending of French appellations. The 2.5 hectares are worked entirely by hand, following biodynamic principles, with spontaneous fermentation and spontaneous malolactic fermentation. There are no pumps, filters or tractors; bottling is done by hand, using gravity.