🍇Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Müller Thurgau
Region: Baden, Germany
About: Florian Moll (alongside his partner Geraldine and cellar-master Maxence) is one of Germany’s most sought-after Pinot Noir producers. Even though they only started in 2007, the estate has already developed a cult following, despite their ‘no fuss’ low tech approach. Florian cultivates 4 hectares of vines in Münchweier, a historic winemaking village on the slopes of the Black Forest in Baden. The sandstone and limestone rich soils found here are capable of yielding lifted and focused expressions of Pinot Noir, and he is lucky to have some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines in Baden. Florian does not have a certification, but believes that farming organically is the ‘new old’, normal way that his grandfather’s generation would have always practice. Despite being the exception to the rule in the otherwise heavily industrialised (however small structured) region of Baden, all the steep vineyard work is done by hand. Naturally, the yields are kept very low. The grapes are pressed with a pneumatic press and elévage is carried out in used barrels between 225 and 500L in size.
This is a blend of 45 year old vines of equal parts Weißburgunder and Grauburgunder (Pinots Blanc and Gris) plus 30% Müller Thurgau. The grapes are fermented for 5 days on the skins before being gently pressed into steel. It then matures for 10 months on the lees before a light filtration and a small addition of sulfur at bottling.