Own-rooted centenarian vines. Harvested early October and basket-pressed. Fermented in an old Halbstück cask (600 litres) and currently in tank on the lees. Will be on lees until bottling in July. Total production c 700 bottles.
Incredible intensity of ripe but sour citrus, green fruits, and even a note of dried grasses, just slightly smoky too – mineral in a rich, almost oily way rather than the dusty minerality of crushed rocks. Already so complex: a hint of clementine and spice. Multi-layered in aroma. In the mouth, the orange notes are dominant at first but give way to wild herbal depths, dried grasses and the purest of fresh, ripe acidity. There’s richness too, a fullness and weight in the mouth yet balanced by the intense freshness. Then full circle to the sour-fruited intensity on the finish, which goes on for ever. The wine has a defiance about it, a wild extremity of site and vine age, and yet also profound and apparently effortless beauty, even though the tending of the vines and the harvest is far from effortless. A defiance, a refusal to conform or bend to the winemaker. Going back to this, there is a greater delicacy than I noted at first. And the greatest persistence of the three Schubertslay wines. (JH)
