Elias and Luisa met in 2021 at Geisenheim, Germany’s university for viticulture and enology. It was friendship at first sight and in 2023 they began to make wine together, relying on experience, intuition, and a strong sense of responsibility to the natural world. Luisa’s love of wine began shortly after she finished school, whilst working in the catering industry. Keen to learn more, she worked at wineries in Spain, France and Canada and, at 25, decided to study winemaking. Elias’ wine journey began at 16 with an internship at Weingut Peter Jakob Kühn that developed into an apprenticeship. Here Elias also made his first cider; a project that continues alongside winemaking. In 2023 Weingut Hainbusch began to take shape with two small plots, 3000m² total, in Kaub on the Rhine river. At the time, Elias was working with Sven Leiner in Palatinate and Luisa looked after the vineyards, with Elias returning as much as he could. As the grapes ripened, Luisa spent a few months in Burgenland with Lichtenberger González, while Elias brought the first bunches safely to the barrel. Word spread that these young winemakers were looking for vineyards and the project grew to 2 ha. For Elias and Luisa, regenerative land management and sustainability is hugely important.They work with used bottles, washed and adorned with ‘Apfelpapier’ labels (a paper made with the pulp residue from apple pressing) and seal the wines with pure, natural corks. All the winemaking is done with the desire to preserve a centuries-old tradition that is inherently tied to the landscape and its biodiversity.
The grapes for Spätburgunder 2023 come from 20 year old vines, grown on two separate plots with a similar, warm microclimate and soil made up Kaub’s typical grey slate. Harvested in mid-September, half of the grapes were left as whole bunches while the other half were de-stemmed. Aged in old barrique for 10 months, with 15mg of sulfur at bottling, it’s a cool, straight wine that balances an easy drinking lightness with dark fruit and spice.