We are thrilled to share our second release of genre-defying Riesling from Mosel wunderkind, Jakob Tennstedt.
Jakob has spent the past few years tirelessly restoring just over a hectare of previously abandoned vineyards in the Kautenbachtal, a small valley hidden in the hills above Traben-Trarbach.
The vines face south, are between fifty and one hundred years old and planted on their original roots over a complex mix of weathered grey-blue slate and quartzite. Surrounded by forest, they sit almost untouched from the outside world, providing a fitting setting for a young grower who is truly one of a kind.
We didn’t fathom just how steep these parcels were until our visit in February, when we gained a deeper understanding of Jakob’s dedication to his craft and the intensity these growing conditions bring to his wines.
Working with the utmost respect for nature, Jakob works by hand and whilst he follows biodynamics, he chooses not to follow a strict routine and instead to apply his own treatments intuitively, when and where he sees fit.
In the cellar he works with a diligence and patience that bely his youth. Grapes are pressed gently and slowly, over the course of many hours. The juice is then transferred to large oak barrels and the wines rest on their lees, untouched, for as long as he deems necessary. Each wine is bottled directly from its cask and nothing is added at any stage.
These wines all come from the 2019 vintage, a classic year that provided near-perfect growing conditions, with warm weather punctuated by cooler periods and occasional rain that offered relief to the plants after the incredibly hot, dry conditions of the previous year.
Tasting these wines with Jakob in the Mosel back in February we were left in awe of their purity, elegance and finesse. A testament to this most humble, hardworking and talented of growers, for whom the sky is the limit.
Jakob’s wines are now live on Tutto a Casa