Spätburgunder 2018

• Pinot Noir from a region nobody thinks to ask about.
• Its earthy edge suits dark soy and mushroom: chap chye, or braised beancurd.
• In Franconia, roast goose, or bratwurst with a sharp mustard.

Michael Völker and Melanie Drese came back to Kitzingen in Franconia in 2013 to take on the winery Michael's father had built, and the vines he had already converted to organic farming in the 1990s. They began small, a few hundred bottles from two parcels, and have kept both the scale and the intent intact ever since.

Franconia is not the loudest of German regions, which suits them. What sets 2Naturkinder apart is how far the farming reaches beyond the vine: Michael works with local bat expert Christian Söder to keep colonies in the vineyard, putting up bat boxes among the rows, returning their guano to the soil as fertiliser, and giving a share of every bottle to the Landesbund für Vogelschutz. The creatures that share the land end up in the names on the labels.

In the cellar the approach is simple and unwavering. Everything is bottled without filtration and without added sulphur, including their BRUTAL!!!, which was the first official German one. Expect wines that are bright, unpolished and genuinely alive, from crunchy Meunier to skin-contact Riesling and field-blend whites.

Photos taken by Daniel Koh