Vol. 12 | July 2022

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the first summer edition of TRINK! Our stunning cover photo by multitalented contributor Nils Kevin Puls sets the tone: coloring outside the lines. When we consider the revolution playing out in wine across Alto Adige, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, it’s clear that free thinkers and risk takers are at the fore, even as they ground their innovations in cultures of the past. 

Think that’s paradoxical? 

Consider Schloss Gobelsburg’s Micheal Moosbrugger. Twenty-five years ago, he stepped into the hush of an ancient monastic winery to take on the seemingly impossible task of merging it into the evolving dynamic of contemporary Austrian wine. Correspondent David Schildknecht presents the first part of an extended conversation with Moosbrugger that reveals a world of insight into the man, the estate, and the wider wine world.

Nils Kevin Puls brings us all up to speed on Rotling: a retro pink that growers like Stefan Vetter and Matthias Warnung are reinventing to evade rules and add new dimensions to their vineyard expressions. 

Over in Württemberg, still widely seen as a red-only region, insiders know it as the home of some of the greatest terroirs for Riesling anywhere. Valerie pulls back the curtain on where to start explorations of your own.

We also offer a trip with expert guide Ellen Wallace to Switzerland’s must-visit destination for lovers of rare Swiss wines. An ace wine-and-cheese pairing in which Ursula Heinzelmann finds an exceptional Alto Adige Gewürztraminer playing a surprisingly emotional role. Lessons one Baden grower discerned over years of probing the psychology of Germanic varieties, as told by new contributor Rainer Schäfer. And, with an eye as sharp as his pen, Christoph Raffelt's account of the viticultural journey of Weinheim, and by extension, Rheinhessen, one of the most thrilling German regions today. 

You’ll notice more articles in this volume are accessible to subscribers only. But we hate to leave anyone out. Please consider this your personal invitation to join our vibrant community of Patreon supporters. If you aren’t already a subscriber, now is the time. And to those who already are, you have our daily gratitude. TRINK is only possible because of you.

Happy reading!

Valerie Kathawala, New York

Paula Redes Sidore, Bad Honnef