Herr Kretz 2020

• Riesling with years on it, which is when the grape stops being obvious.
• Its waxy depth handles fermented flavour: kimchi jjigae, or ikan pekasam.
• Or a roast bird, and the juices spooned over something starchy.

Andi Mann is the latest of a family that has made wine at Eckelsheim since 1699, though he works in a way his ancestors would barely recognise. His ten hectares sit in the steep, forested hills of southern Rheinhessen, on a patchwork of sand, limestone, porphyry and volcanic stone, and he farms them organically and biodynamically, convinced that the health of the vineyard decides everything that follows.

In the cellar Andi does as little as he can. Fermentations run on native yeasts, the wines rest a long time in large old oak, and nothing is fined or filtered before bottling. Two soils recur in the names on his labels: the limestone he calls Calx and the porphyry he calls Purpur.

The range runs from sessionable rosés and light reds to taut, mineral Rieslings and textured skin-contact whites. What ties them together is clarity and energy, and a clear sense of the cool northern place they come from.

Photos taken by Daniel Koh