2020 Chardonnay R

Hans and Valentin, the twin sons of Birgit and Hansjörg Rebholz, are fully integrated into their home estate now. Both have been “involved” ever since they could walk and as early as 2012, when they were just 17 years old, Hansjörg Rebholz gave them half a hectare of Pinot Noir to “do their own thing.” Since then, both studied oenology and have worked stages with key estates: Hans is the Geisenheim graduate and trained with Bassermann-Jordan in the Pfalz, Fürst in Franken, Wittmann in Rheinhessen, Trimbach in Alsace, Lafon in Burgundy and Bodegas Chacra in Patagonia, followed by briefer stints with FX Pichler in the Wachau and Eva Clüsserath in the Mosel. Valentin is the Neustadt graduate who trained with Kranz in the Pfalz, Dönnhoff in the Nahe, Heger in Baden, Gusbourne in England, Rousseau in Burgundy, and Foradori in Alto Adige. The family reports that “everyone can do everything, from vine to bottling. We decide everything together.” Birgit and Hansjörg are still fully involved, but “the boys” have vinified every Pinot Noir since the 2015 vintage. Hansjörg Rebholz took over the estate in 1978 at 8.5 hectares. Now, the family farms 26 hectares split into 40% Riesling, 25% Pinot Noir, and 15% each of Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay. The remaining 20% is Muskateller, Gewürztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc. Hansjörg notes that the family is not looking to expand. On the contrary, slimming down would be better – unless they can get holdings in a great vineyard as they have just done in the Ilbesheimer Kalmit – “but that would mean letting go of something else,” Hansjörg says. The estate is certified biodynamic; apart from compost, they also make their own biochar, all informed by the twins. Valentin, for instance, wrote his thesis on water management in vineyards. Riesling is hand-harvested, destemmed, and crushed and left to macerate for 24 hours – even in 2022. During pressing, they pay attention to press fractions. The juice is sedimented and ferments spontaneously. They do not fine, and the only filtration happens after racking and assemblage. The wines are not filtered again before bottling – meaning that the wines are only moved twice, at racking and at bottling. Capacity in the cellar and a multitude of vessels allow them to make precise decisions without compromise. All the village wines are declassified GGs. Pinot Noir, where each bunch has been halved, is hand harvested and destemmed but is, on average, fermented with 20% of whole bunches. Spontaneous ferment follows a 3-5-day cold maceration. Grapes are pressed in a basket press after 7-10 days post-ferment maceration and transferred to 228-liter barrels. Rebholz also makes long-aged Sekts; in years that are suited, Sekt can account for 10% of production. These will be tasted separately in a forthcoming report. Hansjörg Rebholz speaks of “almost ideal conditions” in summer 2022, since they were lucky to have three days of “very gentle rain, about 90 liters” in late June. This meant the vines weathered the hot July well. It was only in August that they saw signs of real dryness without this turning into water stress. The 2022 harvest started in late August “in ideal conditions for Pinot and Chardonnay until the third week of September,” Rebholz says. This marked the beginning of the Riesling harvest with a focus on old vines. Then the rain started – with the Rebholz family relatively relaxed as their most important wines were safely in the cellar. Harvest did not finish until mid-October as they had to wait for the rain to stop for the harvest of the younger vines, with the obligatory sorting resulting in 30% less yield for Riesling in 2022. During my visit, I tasted the 2022 Rieslings and one Weissburgunder, along with more mature Chardonnay and Spätburgunder.