MARTO - 'Weiss' - Field Blend - Rheinhessen, DE - 2022

Martin's historic white field blend, is still composed of seven varieties, led by Muller Thurgau. This year, though, the Scheurebe was far more productive! As usual, the blend is gently macerated and aged in a combination of vessels - even some new oak! Fruity and aromatic but light on its feet, you might need more than one bottle to get the job done.

The first 2022s from Martin and Alanna, Manna and Weiss, are noticeably different from past years. Rather than past seasons that were dominated by cold and rain, the weather was dry and sunny in 2022, a welcome change in a climate where proper ripeness is difficult to obtain. Not much changed in the cellar but the difference in vintages is obvious. The wines are ripe, concentrated, and fruity but still light on the palate, a feat that Martin and Alanna seem to pull off easily.

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Germany has a new generation of young winemakers challenging the wine worlds view on what German natural wine is, and at the forefront is Martin Wörner and his label Marto. In just 3 years, this 27-year-old is the producer on everyone’s lips in Tokyo, New York, London and Paris. His first vintage of 2016, production was a stunning 2500 bottles. Between Germany, Japan and Australia these bottles were snapped up quickly and everyone else eagerly awaited his 2017 release to begin working with him. We are incredibly lucky to have these bottles here.
Martin comes from an agriculture background, his grandfather was a pioneer, a grape grower that was one of the first in their village of Flonheim to bottle wine under his own banner rather than selling the grapes to the co-op. Flonheim is located in the western part of the Rheinhessen, near the Nahe region. Martin’s father did not have much interest in the vineyards, making his livelihood instead farming strawberries. The family continued to maintain the vineyards, but until Martin took over in 2015, all the fruit was sold to the co-op. The Rheinhessen is the largest wine region in Germany, of its 136 villages, 133 are connected to viticulture and 20% of its area is dedicated to vines. Summers are warm, winters mild and the annual rainfall is low to moderate, the weather conditions are deemed almost perfect. The soils are variable and distinct, changing every 100 meters or so, and range from limestone, sandstone, silt and clay through to volcanic rock. Flonheim is most famous for its sandstone quarry. Martin works 5 hectares of vines currently, all in organic farming with some biodynamic principles applied. For his first harvest he only worked with 1 hectare, by 2017 it was 3 hectares. The focus has always been on soil health and getting that right first. He uses cover crops of radishes, beetroots and turnips throughout the vineyards, on the steeper slopes it is incredibly important to assist with stopping soil erosion. Sheep are used to eat the grasses and no tilling occurs.
Despite his young age, Martin sought out experience from some of the best producers. In 2015 he worked at Gut Oggau with Eduard and Stephanie Tscheppe and in 2016 at Matassa with Tom Lubbe. His time with Tom was to be the most influential and he still seeks his guidance when needed. Because harvest in the south of France is considerably earlier than in Germany, it provided Martin the opportunity to do 2 harvests in 2016 with the knowledge of what he had learnt very much at the front of his mind. Tom also gifted him two old demi-muds for his first harvest. Èlevage is in old barrels, foudres and Mosel casks. All work is done by hand, all the wines are unfiltered, unfined and without any additions. Under German law, Martin is unable to put the village on the label, so the rock is a nod to Flonheim and its characteristic sandstone.
-Notes by Garneau Block Imports