A dry white wine from the Thuringian single vineyard site Kaatschener Dachsberg (Saale-Unstrut), which matured under a veil of yeast and, at just 10.5% ABV, reveals an ascetic, profound side of Silvaner.
17,65€23,53€ / l
Excl. VAT
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Celery seed, fennel, dried meadow herbs and hay, along with nuts, sourdough, brioche, a hint of marzipan and quince.
Palate
Round, silky and juicy with fine phenolics and delicate grip; ripe apple, cellar apple, blond tobacco, quince, bay leaf and camomile, long finish with a saline finale.
Character
A Silvaner with texture and aromatic depth – cool, mineral tension from Germany’s northernmost wine region, elegance over power, idiosyncrasy over effect.
Pairing
Pan-fried fish, asparagus, young goat’s cheese or a bowl of miso soup.
Notes
Twelve months of maturation under flor yeast in used barriques – a method otherwise known from the Jura or Sherry; spontaneously fermented, pressed in a basket press, unfiltered, unfined and only minimally sulphured. Certified organic manual viticulture on weathered shell limestone.
Tasting note
Colour & appearance
Medium, clear golden yellow – deeper in tone than one would expect from a Silvaner from northern Germany. Unfiltered, yet finely clear in the glass.
Nose
An aromatic profile that is truly exceptional: celery seed, a hint of fennel, dried meadow herbs and hay. Behind this, the veil of yeast traces fine lines of nuts, sourdough and brioche, accompanied by marzipan and the pithy sweetness of quince.
Palate
Immensely round and silky, juicy, almost sensual – and yet with fine phenolics and an equally fine grip that gives the wine structure. Ripe apple and cellar apple, blond tobacco, quince, bay leaf and chamomile come together to form a picture of rarely encountered depth. And all this while the wine carries merely 10.5 per cent alcohol by volume – substance without weight.
Finish
Of wonderful length, with a fine salinity on the finish and a lingering aftertaste of herbs and pome fruit that remains present for a long time.
Terroir & origin
The vines stand in the Thuringian single vineyard site Kaatschener Dachsberg, high above the River Saale, on weathered shell limestone with loess clay – barren, stony terrain that demands precision. Saale-Unstrut is Germany’s northernmost quality wine region: a cool, continental climate with cold winters and long autumns that keeps the acidity vibrant and the alcohol low.
Grape variety & vinification
Silvaner, selectively hand-harvested, 48 hours of skin contact with the stems, 21.5 hours in the wooden basket press. Then 20 months on the full lees – of which 12 months in used barriques under flor yeast, a schooling otherwise known from the Jura or from Sherry. Racked once before bottling, minimally sulphured, neither filtered nor fined.
Food recommendations
A wine that confidently steps back at the table: a surprisingly harmonious complement to pan-fried zander, roasted cauliflower with tahini, poularde in cream or a bowl of miso soup. Comté and asparagus with nutmeg also find their perfect counterpart here.
Special features
A flor-aged Silvaner from Thuringia – a combination that probably exists nowhere else in Germany. Carl-Friedrich L. Walther, trained on the Mosel and apprenticed to the Saxon maverick Klaus Zimmerling, farms the parcel with organic certification and allows spontaneous fermentation. The result is a wine of almost ascetic rigour combined with great aromatic abundance: cool, saline, idiosyncratic – one of the most individual Silvaners in the country.
