Olympia and Hannes are young winemakers, farming biodynamically near the river Enz to the north-east of Stuttgart. The roterfaden winery covers 3 ha – the single privately owned winery in the area which is dominated by a large cooperative with 155 ha. After meeting during their enology studies at Geisenheim, the couple travelled to California, France and Austria together before deciding to find a base to make their own wine. Hannes’ grandfather’s farm provided this opportunity and they took over in 2014, focusing on the grape crop, building a winery and releasing their first official vintage in 2015. Having worked in both industrial and small-scale wineries, it was clear to them that they should work biodynamically and in 2018 the winery was Demeter certified. Their philosophy is to maintain balance in the vineyards, which are largely dry-stone terraces with blue shell limestone – similar to the terroir in Jura. This dedication to balance and biodiversity requires a lot of manual labour from start to finish: plant-based sprays are made from nettle, chamo- mile, yarrow and horsetail, the tops of the vines are rolled rather than cut, and after harvest the grapes are stomped underfoot.
Next to Riesling and Pinot Noir, Lember- ger is the main grape variety at roterfaden. Aka Blaufränkisch, these grapes were picked in the first week of September after a hot summer, from vines between 20 and 45 years old. After pressing in a vertical wood press, the grapes were macerated for one month before ageing in old barrels with no filtration and a small amount of sulphite just before bottling. This is a fresh wine with a beautiful clarity, soft character and notes of blackcurrant. Drink slightly chilled, with mushrooms or cured meat.