Grauburgunder Terrassen 2024

Wine Description for Grauburgunder Terrassen 2024 by Barnert & Drewitz

Colour & Appearance

Medium straw yellow with vibrant reflections – a wine that already hints at depth in the glass.

Nose

Something unexpected happens here: this Grauburgunder thinks Burgundian. The wood is so finely woven that it contributes texture rather than aroma; the lees ageing adds complexity without heaviness. Ripe yellow and red apples, mellow cellar apples, a hint of Galia melon and a touch of pineapple form the fruity foundation. To this are added a pinch of butter, almonds, fine herbal spice and a subtle flinty reduction – complex, but never loud.

Palate

On the palate, the wine unfolds an underlying power that is rarely found in this variety. Domestic stone fruit, pineapple and almonds merge with an irresistible mineral salinity that stimulates salivation. The acidity initially appears restrained, but then shows clear profile and gives the wine structure and direction. Textured, sensual, perfectly balanced – and with an elegance that one simply doesn’t expect from Grauburgunder.

Finish

Long and saline, with lingering notes of apple skin, herbs and a mineral aftertaste that recalls the diorite bedrock of the terraces. The wine doesn’t let you go.

Terroir & Origin

The vines stand in steep terraced vineyard sites near Bensheim on the Hessische Bergstraße – one of Germany’s oldest and most distinctive wine regions. The soil is a fascinating mixture: deep-rooted aeolian sand on diorite, permeable and heat-retaining at once. Old vines, rooted deep in this substrate, provide the concentration and mineral tension that distinguish this wine.

Grape Variety & Vinification

Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), spontaneously fermented and aged in 500-litre Tonneaux from Mercurey – a vessel that doses oxygen and allows the wine time to breathe without dominating it. Bottled unfiltered, which formally makes it a Starkenburger Landwein – a label that does far less justice to the wine than its contents. 12.0% vol., practically dry.

Food Pairing Suggestions

An ideal companion to calf’s sweetbreads with morels, pike-perch fillet on beurre blanc, aged Comté or a creamy risotto with white truffle. Also on its own – best with some time in the glass – a great pleasure.

Special Features

A wine that proves that Grauburgunder can do far more than pleasant agreeability. Since its first vintage, this Terrassen Grauburgunder from Barnert & Drewitz has been one of the quiet discoveries of the German wine scene – consistently artisanal, uncompromisingly distinctive.

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