Andi Weigand, "Landwein White" 2020

Producer Profile: In the south-central region of Germany known as Franconia, on the edges of the Steigerwald Forest, Andi Weigand has taken the reins of his family’s wine endeavor, having converted the estate to organics & low-intervention in the cellar in 2018. Andi credits the transformation of the farm to organics & the character of the wines toward that of vin natur not to his own enterprising vision & passion, but rather to his parents’ openness. After all, this was his father’s project and the Weigand wines were quite different historically – they were somewhat commercial wines, however, when Andi expressed the direction in which the winery could go, using friends’ farms like 2Naturkinder and The Brand Brothers in the Pfalz as object examples of what was possible, the future was set in motion. Working with the historically typical varieties of Franconia – Silvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Scheurebe, Riesling, Bacchus, & Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) – these wines are exciting frontier-tests for a region as starkly impacted by climate change as anywhere else. For example, the Weigand vines located on the Iphöfel Kronsberg (a main slope-site shared by several winemakers) are towards the bottom of the hill on sandy-gravel soils, which has historically not received enough sun to create real wines with depth; however, due to rising temperatures and increased annual sun exposure, the more ‘prized’ vines at the top of the hill suffer from overripening, yielding powerful, boozy wines. However, the tics up in heat and sun have transformed the sides/bottom of the hill into prime sites where ripening now occurs at just the right cadence. Beautiful wines emerging from the overlooked corners of the Franken region of Germany.

Vinification & Tasting: A hazy, round, tropical banger of a white, perfect to pair alongside a rich meal. A blend of Silvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Scheurebe, Bacchus, and Weissburgunder. Grapes are hand-harvested, direct pressed and fermented with wild yeasts in old barrels. The wine ages on the lees in old oak for 10 months and is bottled unfined, unfiltered, with no SO2.