Winery

Schätzel

Jule & Kai Schätzel take the boldest step the German wine scene has seen: Grand Cru Riesling from the renowned Roter Hang in Nierstein, matured under flor. Kommune 3000 is the winery of the future: Modern Farming, Modern Wine, Modern Work. A new chapter begins.

Price

Colour

Type

Styles de Vin

Aromatique

Grape

Character

Schätzel

Naturweiss VDP.GUTSWEIN 2024

Fresh & Juicy

Fruity

Spicy

Juicy, Aromatic

14,98 €

19,97 €/L

From the center of tradition, Schätzel marks the beginning of a new era - on one of Germany's most important terroirs.

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.

What Schätzel changes from the inside out has a name: Result.

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 most desirable thing about Schätzel is what cannot be forced: Time.

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.

What Schätzel wasn't looking for changed everything: Flor.

In 2017, Kai and Jule discovered it on the surface of a barrel. First concern, then curiosity. And after the first sip came the realization. No vinegar, no off-flavors, just a wine that protected itself. The phenomenon is often misunderstood: Flor does not mean oxidation. Rather the opposite, a protective shield, without anyone having intervened. It is difficult to describe what happens without tipping over into the poetic. So let's keep it short: saline like sea air, slender and precise like a katana, with all the umami spice of the Roter Hang. Wines with a delicately reductive tension that taste of earth, sky and wood.

What Schätzel thinks of as Kommune 3000 goes far beyond viticulture.

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.