Variety: Elbling

When you think about the Upper Mosel forget everything you think you know about it. In the Upper Mosel you won’t find any slate and you won’t find any Riesling. Matthias Hild is bucking the trends. Matthias Hild is pushing the envelope. He operates at his own pace and by his own terms. He marches to the beat of his own drum. Conventional wisdom would say he’s crazy for trying to single-handedly save the old, terraced parcels of Elbling, but its so charming. The returns on an investment like this are so slim they make no business sense, but its moves like this that make winemakers like Hild so intriguing.

This is Elbling, the grape of the Upper Mosel coupled with limestone and screaming with acidity, in a rather good way. The juice undergoes malolactic fermentation to give the wine some roundness. It then spends 9-18 months on the lees, with a bit of dosage (sugar) added, then it is disgorged just as a Champagne would be. An Upper Mosel Champagne method sparkler!