Fuchs Riesling 2022

The Fuchsloch is a parcel within the Hipping vineyard, a small section with the oldest vines that Kai Schätzel cultivates as natural wine, around 40 years old, embedded in bushes, herbs and trees, partly densely planted. 100% red slate, ferruginous clay slate on the Roter Hang, steep and steep slopes, biodynamic according to Demeter, selective hand-picking in several passes. What grows here grows slowly and with purpose. After the harvest, the whole bunches are crushed with the feet, followed by 48 hours of cold maceration under dry ice. The must is then placed in a single 600-liter oak barrel, unfiltered and unfined. Spontaneous fermentation, BSA undisturbed, no racking, no intervention. What happens next is the heart of the matter: the wine matures for three years under flor yeast. The yeast mesh covers the surface, protecting the wine from oxidation from the inside out, without anyone adding sulphur. No sulphur in the barrel, no sulphur when bottled in October 2025 - the wine is self-sustaining. Formally, it is therefore Landwein Rhein, without an AP number, without an official vineyard designation. But what it brings to the table surpasses any classification: a complexity and stability that comes from genuine patience. On the nose, brioche, dried apricots, green olive, a hint of sherry, kombu seaweed, Mediterranean herbal spice. In the mouth, salty, umami, flinty, with a macadamia depth and a gunpowder finish that lingers. Hipping in a way of thinking that nobody else chooses in this situation.