PIWI’s Big Wine Adventure
Photo credit Thomas Niedermayr – Hof Gandberg
Trink Magazine | Are PIWIs or grape hybrids our viticultural future as the climate crisis makes winegrowing more, not less, challenging? By Christoph Raffelt
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Is Summa the Future of Wine Fairs?
Gatherings dedicated to wines outside the mainstream have become ubiquitous. Even so, one fair seems to cut through the noise: Summa. This small event, held each spring ahead of the global trade convention Vinitaly, has established itself as the grande dame of the alternative wine scene. But it’s fair to ask: with so much competition, does Summa still shine? It’s early April and the sun glistens on the peaks of the Alps, which remain white even now. On the southbound train from Bozen, the mood is good. It’s 10 am but temperatures have already reached high-summer levels. Arriving in the…...
Winners and Losers of the Revised German Wine Law
Roughly once a generation, the German government pops the hood on the country’s wine law for a tune up. 2021 is one such year, with a new set of revisions taking effect in early May. On the surface, the changes appear more incremental than revolutionary. Yet controversy has followed as various stakeholders realize that some new wrinkles may have unexpectedly far-reaching consequences. So let’s pour ourselves a glass of dry wine (law) and savor some juicy power dynamics. Here are the early winners and losers of the 2021 German Wine Act. Winner: The VDP’S Long Game You can’t say the…...
Landwein: Flouting Rules to Follow Instinct
Germany seems to require an official examination for everything. Qualitätsweine (“quality wines”) are no exception. Those that fail the test are slapped with the Landwein label. In April 2015, a group of top growers from Baden, deep in Germany’s southwest, joined forces to rebel against the official inspection system. Flouting what officials would think of as a demotion, they decided to wear Landwein as a badge of honor. Baden has long been seen as the kinder, more conventional Germany. Thus Landwein is a direct challenge to that sensibility, one that takes on more significance because it seemed the unlikeliest of places for revolt. It happened the way so many…...
Germany · Baden · Pfalz · Rheinhessen · Tasting Article
On the Way to German Chardonnay 2.0
German Chardonnay may be the most thrilling wine for our moment.
“It’s the Nitrogen, Stupid!”: On Agrochemistry, Biodynamics and Wine
Above, a postcard from the German fertilizer industry of the 1920s. At the time, perspectives on soil were changing: Until then, people had spoken of plant growth as being affected by forces; afterward, it was substances. Deficiencies could simply be addressed with the help of agrochemistry. As recently as a decade ago, biodynamic viticulture could be shrugged off as “some dogma about phases of the moon and cow horns.” But now that we find a who’s who of the wine world on the member lists of relevant biodynamic organizations, it’s no longer so easy to cancel adherents to this form of farming. Those…...
The Future of Swiss Wine
A new wave of vignerons is gathering strength in Swiss wineries. They are young, eclectic, and often organic or biodynamic in their work. Most are keenly focused on sustainability and trying disease-resistant grapes. Thirty of them, who go by JSNW (Junge Schweiz Neue Winzer, or Young Switzerland New Vignerons), offer a snapshot of this generation, all under age 40. The association was created in 2010 in Zurich to put “sharing” in boldface: of experience and ideas, but most of all of their wines and feedback, at regular meetups. The group has expanded to include vignerons from the French- and Italian-speaking…...