How we made it
After the 2020 frost vintage 2021 was another difficult year with plenty of rain and powdery mildew as a constant threat causing severe damage all over the place. Nonetheless we were able to pick enough grapes to continue this blend the way we envisioned it: a major batch of Müller-Thurgau for the fruit, a slightly smaller batch of Silvaner for more structure and acid and finally a spritz of Riesling for and extra aromatic sparkle. All pressed straight away and mostly aged in big old barrels until racked and blended before bottling.
The story
In 2014 we took over a vineyard situated in the town of Kitzingen where our winery is situated too. It used to be outside of town but over time houses and gardens grew around it, it’s a very unusual and unlikely place. Shortly after posting the first pictures of the vineyard we met a guy who dedicates a good part of his life to the bats of our area.
Together with local bat hero Christian Söder we developed the idea of a cycle: we get guano from local bat colonies – a wonderful fertilizer. In return we give a share of the revenue back to the bats via the Landesbund für Vogelschutz. And we put a bunch of bat boxes in the vineyard to offer opportunities for those lovely animals to hang out as they hunt at night – about 15 different species as Christian found out! The bat on the label is the grey long-eared bat which has become very rare in our area. It’s also incredibly cute and we want to help it stay around.
Fact sheet
Varieties: Müller-Thurgau (54%), Silvaner (33%), Riesling (13%)
Location: Theilheim, Repperndorf
Soil: Shell limestone
Harvest: September 2021
Everything crushed and pressed, fermented and aged in big oak barrels
Bottled: August 2022
Alcohol: 11.5%
Acid: 5.6 g/l
Total SO2 (nothing added): 6 mg/l
Residual sugar: 0.6 g/l
Bottle size: 0.75 l
Something to watch