On the Rocks

Marković's Pinot Noir from Oberrotweil, on the Kaiserstuhl: dark volcanic soil on a windy, cool high plateau, as the German merchants who carry the wine describe it. wein.plus separates it from its old-vine sibling Parabole on exactly that ground - On the Rocks off the volcanic soil, Parabole off loess loam over volcanic rock.

The cellar work, per wein.plus: open mash fermentation with whole grapes, spontaneous, foot-stomped, bottled unfiltered and unfined, with pumping avoided. For the 2022 specifically, the merchant sheet gives 75% whole bunches, a basket press, ten months in 300-litre casks with half of them new, then one racking and further ageing in a used pièce. The import sticker reports total SO2 of 35 mg/l and 0.2 g/l of residual sugar.

Bottled as Landwein Oberrhein, which is how nearly all his Baden reds go out - Windspiel, Parabole, At Forest and the Syrah alike. His Rheinhessen wines are not Landwein, but those name single sites at Siefersheim, and German wine law reserves single-vineyard names for Qualitätswein.

Baden came through the hot, dry 2022 better than most German regions because its rain fell in August rather than September, and a multi-week harvest ran in cool weather. Holger Klein of the Badischer Weinbauverband reported around 1.35 million hl of must, 13% above the long-term average and half again on a 2021 cut short by frost and vine disease, with losses in young plantings and on light sandy soils. He called it a very good year for the Burgunder family and a lighter year overall: the rain kept must weights from overshooting, so moderate alcohol was expected, and acidity came in moderate too.