Schätzel

In retrospect, some names seem like landmarks: Henri Jayer in Burgundy. Josko Gravner in Friuli. Pierre Overnoy in the Jura. People who didn’t opt out of the system, but changed it from within. Jule and Kai Schätzel make wine on the Roter Hang — 70% VDP Großer Lage, or Grand Cru. This is not a winery that needs to reinvent itself. And it is precisely from this position that they are taking the most radical step the German wine world has seen in a generation: flor on top-quality Riesling. A layer of yeast otherwise known from the Jura or from sherry, applied here for the first time on one of Germany’s most prestigious terroirs. Not as an experiment, but as a philosophy.

We use big words sparingly, even if small ones are enough. But sometimes small ones are not enough. Jule and Kai are not dropouts who throw down the VDP crest and flee to the natural wine scene. They are the complete opposite: the most innovative member of an association that has stood for quality for decades - with 70% VDP Grosser Lage, i.e. Grand Cru, behind them. From there, they are taking the most consistent step that the German wine world has seen in a generation.

The real question that this style of wine raises is not a sensory one. It is epistemic: why has no one in Germany ever done this before? Perhaps because maturity has never been a simple promise. Flor does not work according to a plan, but according to readiness. The fact that we are allowed to accompany, explore and taste this process is the most desirable thing that wine can be. Because it contains something that no intervention can replace: itself.

Not only grasses, but also tomatoes, cabbages and herbs bloom between the rows of the Roter Hang. The vineyards are no longer monocultures, but habitats. This agroforestry mentality creates a self-sufficient, vibrant system that is countering climate change with maximum biodiversity. A member of the VDP since 2016 and Demeter-certified since 2023 - the organic path is not an option for Schätzel, but the foundation. Kommune 3000 is not a marketing concept. It is a radical blueprint for the future of viticulture: an ecosystem of people, craftsmanship and nature that thinks in cycles that go beyond all of us.