K. Wechsler - 'Trocken' - Scheurebe - Rheinhessen, DE - 2020

A straight-shooting, glorious version of this variety that captures its better qualities while leaving behind the often-exhaustive aromatic characteristics. Its acidity is electric and engaging, and its general characteristics are high-toned. It flaunts the limestone terroir with the same class as the Rieslings from the vineyards it comes from, Benn and Kirchspiel.

Katharina Wechsler’s enviable Rheinhessen vineyard holdings are in what may be today’s most famous dry Riesling area (mostly thanks to local luminaries, Klaus-Peter Keller, and Philipp Wittman), with highlights that include a big slab of the grand cru vineyard, Kirchspiel, and perhaps the most coveted of all recognized grand crus, Morstein. Between these two extraordinary vineyards, her family owns in its entirety a large vineyard, called Benn. Located between Morstein and Kirchspiel, lower on the slope, only the upper section of Benn is on the strongly calcareous sections planted to Riesling, while much of the lower slopes are a patchwork of many different grape varieties she loves to play with in her cellar, concocting a range of pure pleasure and fun, like her savory orange wines and other more “natural” wine bottlings. The highlight of her range is of course the classically styled dry Rieslings imbued with ornate lines and a deep, terroir drive.

We were first referred to Katharina’s wines through some local German friends and long-time followers of Klaus Peter Keller. Over the years, they put many Rieslings in front of me that fell a little short of what I was in search of, but with Katharina’s wines they nailed it. We’ve been selling many great dry Riesling producers for more than a decade, some of the highlights being Klaus-Peter Keller, Emrich-Schönleber and Clemens Busch, so we carefully examined Katharina’s wines over a three-day period of repeated tastings, and it was clear the moment they were open that we had a winner. As the days passed, they continued to deepen in complexity and refined nuances, their core power spearheaded principally by the full flex of limestone bedrock.

A New 18th Century Winery

Katharina’s approach to wine is unique. She grew up in a grape-growing environment and observed her parents’ stress during each year’s challenge, which was mostly crop losses to unfavorable weather. The Wechsler’s main source of income was producing for the bulk wine market, but in an effort to offset the unpredictability of grape growing they also cultivated grains and vegetables to better ensure annual income. The objective in grape growing was to achieve a certain sugar level (Prädikat) in order to sell for higher prices. Wine consumption was absent in the family’s daily life, and Katharina and her other siblings had little interest in continuing the family business that had begun in the eighteenth century.

After finishing high school, Katharina was off to Paris for a year to study French Literature and work as an au pair to earn her keep. She moved back to Stuttgart to study Social and Political Sciences, and in 2006 she moved to Berlin for her first job working at a German television station as a Junior Editor. However, after many weekly phone calls with her mother, she started to feel the pull to return home and help continue her family’s multi-generational, humble and ever-humbling business.

With Berlin in her rearview mirror, she was headed home. Upon her return she met with a lot of young winemakers and began to understand the difference in lifestyle between bulk wine grape growers and growers who bottled their own wines. The latter, often in a passionate pursuit of excellence, always had a greater interaction with the outside world. She began to see a meditative life of work with her hands and her mind in the vineyards and the cellar balanced with cultural experiences by way of world travel, food, wine, and access to everything from every corner of the globe—a privileged life connected to the rest of the world from her small village of Westhofen! Everything began to click; the dreamer’s dream was alive! A romantic life in agriculture could be achieved! But first things first…

2009 was to be her first season and she attended winemaking school in Oppenheim at the same time. Prior to acquiring her degree in 2012, she worked harvests for Weingut Gutzler in 2010, and the following year for Germany’s rarely disputed dry Riesling king in the next village, Klaus-Peter Keller. They share many of the same vineyard plots, particularly inside the extraordinary Kirchspiel and Morstein crus. Katharina explains that Keller taught her about finesse in limestone-driven white wines, and the importance of trinkfreude, the “joy to drink.”

Little by little, Katharina found her footing. She’s inspired by the racy, high-acid style of Keller, but her wines speak more softly and with a slower burn. One of Riesling’s many exceptional qualities is its ability to remain deeply complex while expressing a magnificent multitude of faces. Dry Riesling can be thunder and lightning with intense, multi-colored sunsets and sunrises, like Keller’s masterpieces. Katharina’s, by contrast, delivers contemplation under a fresh moonlit countryside with the shimmering orange glow of lights on the horizon and the flicker of white fire of the night’s stars above.

Katharina’s Style

Years away from her immersion in the bustle of Paris, with its immense history, passing the days with French poetry and literature followed by the excitement of television in Berlin, brought Katharina to engage in wine differently. She approaches it with eyes wide open to the wider world, and to spend time with her is a feast of ambiance, conversation, food, and, of course, wine; but wine is not the main event, rather a stimulant for a more open encounter. Wine without ambiance means less, and she sets the stage for each moment—to show how she likes to enjoy wine. It could be a terroir tour in the vineyards while drinking wines rendered from what lies under your feet, or Sexy MF, her Cloudy by Nature Pinot Noir rosé, in her flower garden as it wafts similarly beautiful aromas; all after a quick dip for your swollen feet after a vineyard tour in the cool and serene spring next to the garden.

One of Katharina’s many great interests and regular activities involves jet-setting her way around the world to enjoy the local food and drink, and she wants nothing more than to bring the taste of the world to Westhofen! A summer meal at Wechsler is no ordinary German feast; it involves freshly baked bread that reminds me of those in a Saturday morning French farmer’s market, fresh-made herb butter, baskets of lemons and limes for accenting, mounds of garlic, garden-fresh tomatoes, fresh-cut delicate lettuces, and green herbs readied for salads and dressings, or mortared for whatever comes off their grill, fueled by gnarly, old-vine stocks. The fare is fresh and light, colorful and aromatic, invigorating and full of life. For Katharina and her partner, Manuel, organic is not only the way for their food, vineyards and wines, it’s also a way of life.

Vineyard Culture

While viticulture was trending toward natural and organic farming prior, her pursuit to certify it began in 2018, making 2021 the first “official” vintage. She wasn’t entirely sure about certification, but she started Biodynamic practices with the 2020 vintage. She views the holistic and preventative approach of biodynamics as an attempt to build the plants natural immunity against typical fungal diseases and whatever new climatic challenges may bring.

When asked how her vineyards are different from others in the area (even those who have been working organically or biodynamically for some time), Katharina says that hers are a little more free to grow as they want and need to grow, rather than being perfectly tidy and rigidly sculpted. Each vine’s growth is based on individual needs, and to keep them all in the same uniformity may be more for the ease of the grower but not necessarily for the benefit of the plant. Soil amendments are limited to additions of their own compost from horse manure, grape pomace, and green waste. Annual plowing is made not only to manage the overgrowth of grasses and weeds but to mix in the more than thirty different herbs they plant between the rows to enrich the soil with nutrients. The augmentations toward more natural farming have resulted in lower yields and sometimes smaller berry size. Katharina cautions that while most of the time this is the case, every year is different. The most noticeable result is the greater overall natural balance of each plot, which naturally shows up in the wines.
Ted Vance. The Source Imports