2023 Brand Brothers Riesling Feinherb Pfalz 1L

Winemaker Notes: The Brand brother's Feinherb Riesling comes from young vines in vineyards in the valley around Bockenheimer on soils of limestone, loam and loess young vines. Wonderfully aromatic with lively fruit and minerality and a lovely zest and charge on the palate, perfectly balanced by the residual sugar. The Feinherb Riesling has a slight sweetness on the attack, though the sugar melds perfectly into the body, finishing dry and crisp. No fining or filtration and minimal use of sulfur. Enjoy with spicy crab cakes and Asian cole slaw.  

The brothers Brand, Daniel and Jonas, have quickly brought attention to the far northern Pfalz, this cool-climate, limestone-rich, yet otherwise overlooked region. I would say the brothers (along with Andreas Durst) have redefined this place, but that presupposes the place has actually been defined, which is a stretch. The “famous” Pfalz, the Mittelhaardt region, is a good 45-minutes south. Here, however, in the north, in the Brand brother’s village of Bockenheim, well, things are a bit quieter; the historic and gilded estates of the south, with their tended gardens and bustling tourism, give way to a quieter, more gritty, working agricultural feel in the north. For the Brand’s wines, well, first there are the liters – these are the wines that immediately made both John and I look at each other with eyebrows a-raised, sharing that look of delight when something stands apart because of its internal, brightness, purity and zzziiiinnnnng. They still fascinate and delight; there are few better deals in wine. In the years since, the Brand brothers have quietly experimented more and more with 0-sulfur winemaking. The Pet-Nats are riveting, ultra-light testaments to what this region is capable of; in the already-saturated world of Pet-Nat, they have a dedicated following and disappear quickly. The rather long and eccentric list of 0-sulfur “Pur” wines that the brothers released beginning with vintage 2016 reflect a lot of experimenting, both in the vineyards and in the cellars. They are the beginning of what is likely to be a grand story of natural wines in the north.

Certified Organic · Working Biodynamic · Vegan