Emily Campeau and Christoph Müller were originally chefs, working in kitchens across Paris, Switzerland, Germany and NYC before leaving their cooking careers behind to venture into the wine world. Emily became the wine director of Restaurant Candide in Quebec and Christoph studied oenology and viticulture in Neustadt before moving to Austria to join the team at Weingut Weninger. It was here the pair met and fell in love during the hot harvest of 2018, passionate about natural wine, organic farming, and each other. Emily and Christoph settled in Franconia in the winter of 2021. Here they tend to four hectares of vines which, unusually for the region, have been farmed organically since 1991. Varieties include Silvaner, Pinot Meunier, Bacchus, Müller-Thurgau, Weißburgunder, Regent and Johanniter, and a third of the vines are fungus-resistant grapes known as PIWI from the German ‘Pilzwiderstandsfähige Rebsorten’. Shortly after arriving in Hüttenheim, Emily and Christoph started creating a huge garden where they grow vegetables and fruit, eaten fresh and preserved for winter months. The garden is home to an abundance of aromatic and medicinal herbs which are combined with foraged botanicals, spring blossoms and summer flowers to make small batches of quality vermouth. Their neighbours have a still where the alcohol for these is made; the last two editions using grape distil from 2021 Silvaner.
Newstalgia 2023 is a rotling; a blend of red and white grapes co-fermented and pressed together. 60% Müller-Thurgau and 40% Domina were harvested from a friend’s nearby farm – an unusual combination that captures the essence of the place, which is in conversion to organic. The grapes, grown on Keuper, were destemmed and macerated together for three days where they began a light fermentation before pressing. After 11 months in 500l barrels, the wines were bottled at the end of August ’24 with a microdose of sulfur. Six months more, and they were ready for release. Sealed with organic beeswax from Christoph’s village in Württemberg and adorned with another distinctive label from designer Simon Roy, this is an earnest wine with a deep savoury note that makes it a great dinner companion. In Emily’s words, it’s a wine that eagerly awaits barbecue season, friend to peak summer’s tomato-pepper train, best buddy to juicy, dripping grilled pork, and shining bright amid bowls of beetroot hummus and muhammara. Open an hour in advance and drink slightly chilled.