Blaufränkisch Kalk & Schiefer 2021

Very cold but dry spring, late budding, flowering was also somewhat delayed. This was followed by a warm June, a few hot days in July, but no hot spell. In August finally good water supply, beautiful sunny weather until mid-September. Harvest began on 7 September. Satisfactory sugar levels with low pH values resulted in fine, elegant red wines and the best white wine year ever; however, small quantities.

Dense, dark purple, delicate violet reflections, light rim

Kalk & Schiefer has always been a bank. Even if the stylistic transformation over the last ten years has been enormously exciting to watch. The 2021 version is a very contemporary drink. It seems complex and multi-layered. Different layers of aromas lie on top of each other. Cassis, elderberry and blackberry are omnipresent. Morello cherries provide some freshness. Dark, balsamic spices of cocoa and coffee are embedded in numerous ethereal nuances. Eucalyptus, mint and parsley. A liquorice as well as some cold smoke round it off.

With the first sip, he sets a monument to himself. Red wine goes the same way in 2023. So contemporary and lean. Intellectual in its approach and yet wonderfully lacking in complexity. It hits the palate like a narrow beam. Full of finesse and race. The fruit is enormously small and is kept in check by the crisp acid structure. This opens up possibilities for its spicy and ethereal components, which now take over.