Ziereisen - Hard Chardonnay

Hanspeter was als kind al geïnteresseerd in goede wijnen en in zijn jeugd ging hij op zoek naar de meest interessante wijnen ter wereld. Hij kwam vast te zitten in Bourgogne. Hoewel Chardonnay nog steeds vreemd voor hem was, vond hij in de Pinot Noir de connectie met zijn vaderland en ook het werk van zijn hart. Hanspeter Ziereisen heeft de afgelopen jaren nogal wat opschudding veroorzaakt met zijn rode wijnen, die oude wijknamen dragen. De witte wijnen van Hanspeter zijn echter niet inferieur aan de rode wijnen, natuurlijk ook hier voornamelijk Bourgondische rassen. Alle wijnen zijn zeer mineraal en zeer individueel, maar ze hebben altijd een uitstekende balans.
Een geheim van zijn succes zijn de sites die hoog op de kalksteen uitlopers van het Zwarte Woud liggen en die bijna uitsluitend uit Jura-kalk bestaan. Berg en helling locaties enkele honderden meters boven de zeespiegel, sommige zelfs steile hellingen, allemaal met een zuidelijke ligging. Hij is een van de weinige Duitse wijnbouwers die deze basis deelt met de Cote d'Or, de filet van Bourgondië, vergelijkbaar met het Midden-Haar van de Pfalz. Hanspeter Ziereisen is een van de meest onderschatte en tegelijkertijd beste wijnmakers in Duitsland. Met zijn creatieve drang en wijngevoel zou Hanspeter Ziereisen in principe elk jaar de wijnmaker van het jaar moeten zijn!  De wijngids Gault&Millau 2019 beloont de inspanningen van de familie Ziereisen met de opname in de categorie "Wereldklasse" - die slechts 20 wijndomeinen in Duitsland omvat.

 

JANCIS ROBINSON
"Ziereisen and the Baden Landwein revolution"

Even when I take a break from German wine, I can't quite leave it alone, and when I recently spent a few days in Alsace, withdrawal symptoms drove me east across the border, marked by the river Rhine, for a quick trip to visit the Ziereisen estate at Efringen-Kirchen in the very south of Baden [about which Tam first wrote, on our old forum back in April 2006, expressing delight at the Syrah made by this asparagus farmer and carpenter turned winemaker - JR

Spending an afternoon chez Ziereisen is always a great educational experience as well as being thoroughly enjoyable. After our small party of four and a half Brits and half a German had been treated to a comprehensive tasting and inspection of the estate's impressive new underground barrique cellar, there was still more information to come.

 

Edeltraut Ziereisen (in the picture with her well-groomed husband Hanspeter) drew my attention to a new joint venture of (so far) 17 Baden growers which will not necessarily be welcomed with unbridled enthusiasm by other producers' associations. After a successful start in 2017, this new (loose) alliance held its second Badischer Landweinmarkt called 100 Prozent Landwein at Müllheim on 27 April 2018. As the term Landwein indicates, all partners in this venture subscribe to the idea of producing wines which do not have to adhere to the regulations and restraints of the German quality wine regime.

 

Originally the Deutscher Landwein category was introduced by the German wine law in 1982 as an answer to the French Vin de Pays, a basic tier just above table wine, or vin de table, with less stringent requirements than the second tier of Qualitätswein or the top tier Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (Kabinett, Spätlese and so on). Among other things, Landwein allows a wider choice of grape varieties, blending across the whole of the specified region, lower minimum alcohol, and chaptalisation is also allowed. However, all the wines have to be trocken (dry) or halbtrocken (off-dry) in style.

It can't be said that after its introduction the Landwein category became an unmitigated success, as the requirements of the higher tier of Qualitätswein were actually low enough for more than 95% of German wine production to qualify for it, and therefore most growers had no reason to use the new designation. Where it proved useful initially was when a producer wanted to produce wine from varieties such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc before they had been approved for Qualitätswein.

Eventually the Landwein designation became more important for a totally different reason. All Qualitätsweine have to be approved as being typical of their provenance and tradition by a tasting commission, usually made up of local growers and wine board inspectors.

Some of the most enterprising growers found their applications turned down because in the eyes of the commission their wines did not meet these criteria. One of the most common reasons for refusal was the use of barriques, which, according to the judgement of the officials, led to an unacceptable change of taste. In a nutshell the Landwein category became an escape option for innovative producers, just as Vin de France is today.

Today Hanspeter Ziereisen, Enderle & Moll, Sven Nieger and a growing number of like-minded growers are happy to declare all their wines as Landwein since, instead of being perceived as third rate, the designation has become a byword for exciting, individual, sometimes outright unconventional wines.

 

The (German) wine law-giver may not be concerned with growers who opt out of the quality wine regime, as after all it was the law that provided them with that opportunity. But it might be a little worrying for the association of top German growers the VDP, and its regional Baden chapter in particular, if more and more of the area's talented producers prefer to join forces in an alternative alliance. It is quite clear that Hanspeter Ziereisen is (quite happily) pulling this particular train, as most of the member estates of the Landwein syndicate were founded only a few years ago and still need the help of a big name like his to put their wines on the map.