Importer Notes: German natives Christoph Wolber and Alexander Götze met in Burgundy while working at top organic and biodynamic domaines (Alex at Pierre Morey and de Montille, and Christoph at Leflaive, Bernhard van Berg, Domaine de la Vougeraie and Comte Armand) and returned to Germany in 2018 to start their Baden-based wine project, Wasenhaus. Organic and biodynamic farming is employed in all the vineyards they manage for others and those they own themselves, and growers in vineyards they rent and/or buy from are encouraged to follow the same principles. Similar to Alsace, though not as dramatic in geological changes, their region is a patchwork of different rock types from granite, volcanic, and limestone with löess topsoil commonly present. All the grapes are hand harvested, and the wines are naturally fermented (some partially carbonic) with minimal intervention, stem inclusion on the reds. Both red and white wines are aged in old French oak barrels, and neither are unfined nor unfiltered.

Chardonnay has a history here in Baden; it’s more common here (it seems) to find parcels of Chardonnay planted in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when it was still something of a curiosity, at least in Germany. Wasenhaus’ edition is perky and direct, with great lift and concentration.

The wine is sourced from various parcels south of Staufen and in the Kaiserstuhl. The 2022 was pressed as whole-cluster and fermented in used barrels of different sizes. Aged for one year on the full lees in barrel and another half year in stainless steel on its entire lees.