The 50th is always something remarkable, especially with refreshing vibrations. And that’s also the case with the celebratory 50th Wine Ghosts podcast at Domaine Lassak. We’ve visited Steffi and Fabian Lassak in their Hessigheim wine castle to indulge in marvelous Riesling, Lemberger and Pinot Noir barrel samples. First, they’ve shown us their gorgeous vineyard sites hallmarked by shell limestone underbelly. Their organic sites are low-yielding with great air flows, varying exposures and party planted with Massale Selections from Burgundy. What can I say?! The Lassak wines amazed me even if their “unmatured” phase, already bursting from spice, individuality, and density. It was always harder to spit.. Wise and attentive winemaking with extended lees ageing, spontaneous fermentation, seasoned oak casks, parcel-selected batches in its toolbox. That was the first podcast scenery, where I almost had to beg to get my hands on some wines for my cherished collection as they’ve sold out well in advance (and for a good reason).

You can find selected clips on the Wine Ghosts Youtube channel where Steffi and Fabian are describing three of their vineyard sites on-the-spot under the Hessigheim Sun as well as some tasting moments in their 500-years-old cellar.

The podcast starts without any official introduction after returning from the vineyards, already slurping on the first Riesling.

Guests: Stefanie & Fabian Lassak | Domaine Lassak | Germany

Timeline:

2:45 – Podcast Start | Hessigheimer Riesling 2020

6:11 – Riesling from a true limestone soil

10:56 – Cellar Explanation & Barrel Usage & Technical Staff

13:09 – Hessigheimer Riesling

18:54 – Riesling from the 1964’s Vineyard

24:31 – Lemberger Gutswein

32:05 - Pinot Noir "Younger Steige"

35:51 - Pinot Noir “Old Steige”

41:59 – Freetime drinking habits

44:22 – Pinot Noir - Hornberg

48:00 – Pinot Noir Hörnle & Future Plans, what is on their vision board as taste?!

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2021’s first Remstal visit led me to Strümpfelbach, to Andi Knauß. He is also one of those young vintners in this sub-region of Württemberg who represents this wonderful terroir to the World with memorable and distinctive wines. After taking a picturesque vineyard tour, Andi welcomed us in his idyllic home below nearby vineyards, surrounded by newborn sheeps and orchard trees. He told us how working with Austrian Blaufränkisch influenced his Lemberger making, or which grape variety will play a bigger role in his vineyards in the future. Among others, we’ve also tasted his stunning village level Riesling, his elegant Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder), exciting-spicy Chardonnay and two characterful, single-vineyard Lembergers. Organic farming, low-intervention winemaking, lees ageing, restrained oak usage. I love that. Additionally, we talk about my fetish for native yeast and how Andi’s spontaneous fermentation takes a mark on all his wines, and which wine styles tend to give me the most inspiration. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I have.

Guest: Andi Knauß | Winery Knauß | Germany

Timeline:

2:20 – Introduction to the winery

5:32 – Vintage 2020 & Global Warming

2:39 – Vineyards & Trollinger

7:48 – Motivations & Winemaker Stories

10:24 – Riesling Schnait 2019

14:53 – Altenberg Schnait Riesling 2019

15:13 – Soil Types

21:30 – Chardonnay Beutelsbach Sonnenberg

24:12 – Sparkling & International Dreams

25:10 – Lemberger as the region’s postcard

28:50 – Spätburgunder Nonnenberg (Strümpfelbach) 2018

33:04 – Freetime-drinks?

34:03 – What do I drink for my inspiration?

37:26 – Lemberger Wohlfahrtsberg 2018 (Löwenstein)

39:00 – Changing to Organic & Spontaneous Fermentation

42:00 – Tasting Lemberger Wohlfahrtsberg 2018 (Löwenstein)

43:30 – Lemberger Altenberg 2018

47:04 – ‘Signature’ Wines & Zweigelt

48:50 – Lemberger for the Future

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The first podcast that focuses on one of my favourite regions: Priorat. I had the great chance to connect with the Perinet winery, one of the shining stars in the area, to give insights in their terroir and magical cellar work. Perinet is located in the North-Eastern part of the Priorat region, in the village zone of Poboleda. Perinet’s knowledgeable winemaker Antoni Sánchez-Ortiz, together with Carlota, literally gave a profound masterclass on the region, its characteristic Llicorella soil, microclimatic differences, the two key varieties, namely Garnatxa and Carinyena, and why these grapes are handled differently in the winemaking process. Every Perinet bottle amazed us, my girlfriend was actually weeping for joy when trying one of these wines, you can find out in the podcast which one.

Feel free to watch shorter, thematic clips cut out of the podcast on the Wine Ghosts Youtube channel, or watch the entire conversation via the Wine Ghosts Patreon channel in return for a small monthly contribution, where you can also download my PDF summary about the podcast, respectively. You can find all the links below. Enjoy!

Timeline:

3:11 – Perinet & Priorat History

04:25 – Priorat Terroir

10:02 – History & Origions

13:27 – Soil in Priorat & Montsant

18:56 – Monstant vs Priorat | DO vs DOQ

26:30 – Garnatxa vs Carinena

32:10 – Garnatxas and Carinena tasted side by side

46:58 – Benefits of Spontaneous fermentation

1:01:42 – Perinet Cuvee

1:06:55 – Their Favourite wines

1:09:36 – Plans for the future

1:11:12 – 1194 Wine

Guest: Antoni Sánchez-Ortiz & Carlota Palau Parisi

Winery: Perinet, Priorat, Spain

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This episode will take you to the sunny Serralada de Marina Natural Park just 20 minutes North of Barcelona, and your tour guide will be Mireia Pujol-Busquets Guillén from the Alta Alella winery. This family-owned winery has been cultivating this picturesque land organically for about 30 years now, and concentrates on Cavas, natural wines, local grape varieties, in addition to conserving the natural habitat around the avant-garde facilities. We’ve started our virtual tasting with the newest vintage of ‘Bruant’ which was the first-ever Cava made without any added sulphur 15 years ago. Mireia also explained the brand new regulations and classification for Cava before tasting two other wonderful naturals: a lively Monastrell/Mataró/Mourvèdre (a whole new face of the variety here) and a single varietal Pansa Blanca/Xarel.lo natural which was partially fermented in ‘Sauló’ amphoras, as an homage to the distinct granitic soil composition found beneath the vines themselves. These wines bring a dreamy terroir and a fantastic family project to anyone’s table who appreciates tradition, nature, health and utterly delicious wine.

As always, you can also watch some of the tasting parts on the Wine Ghosts Youtube channel, so feel free to wonder at our joyful faces while tasting these beauties.

2:39 – Introduction to DO Alella

5:30 – Family’s involvement in the winemaking

10:32 - Alella Terroir

14:13 – Tasting Bruant (Natural Cava)

19:26 – New Cava Regulations

24:25 – Xarello / Pansa Blanca

25:56 – Tasting Tallarol

36:10 – Other Varieties: Mataró/Monastrell –

44:53 – Project Celler de Les Aus / Natural Wines

50:17 – Meaning of the Birds-Labels

51:36 – Mireia’s Favourite Wines & Alella Petnat

55:26 – Views on Native & Tradition Varieties for the Future

1:03:34 – Alta Alella’s Future Plans

Guest: Mireia Pujol-Busquets Guillén

Winery: Alta Alella, Spain / @altaalella

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2:03 – Growing up in a Tokaj Winemaking Family & Beginning

9:13 – Winemaking in Socialism

10:39 – Tokaj Terroir & Tállya

18:50 – Homoky Vineyard Sites

23:43 – Typical Tokaj Varieties

32:18 – Sauternes vs Tokaj

34:53 – Why sweet wines become untrendy?

40:26 – Szamorodni & Aszú & Puttony

45:28 – Homoky Dorka Portfolio - Hetény

48:23 – Cellar work & Barrels

53:28 – Görbe Sárga Muskotály with Skin Contact

57:21 – Dorka’s Favourite Wines

58:46 – Sas Alja & Hárslevelű

52:10 – Typical Hárslevelű

1:01:53 – Future Plans & Love for French Wines (also reds)

1:06:16 – “Cedar Red Petnat”

Guest: Dorka Homoky / @dorkahomoky

Winery: Homoky Dorka Winery, Hungary / @homokydorkawines

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The 45th episode is about a winemaker, whose unforgettable hospitality has started the sparkle in me for the entire Wine Ghosts podcast. But more about that in the podcast. Ivano Cobelli creates memorable wines with his two older brothers about 15 minutes away from Trento, Northern Italy. The organic Cobelli vineyards are less than 5 hectares in size and located on a chalk plain, which is actually very untypical to the region, so it imparts an unmatchable character to their wines. Ivano explained the Pergola system and its relevance to the region, described local native varieties like the Nosiola and Teroldego, which we also tasted together during the podcast. Besides, you can learn how to vineyard-select your indigenous yeast with a bucket, how the Cobelli Gewürztraminer shines with its dryness, and the story of how he inspired me to look for the ghosts in the wine world for truly memorable wine experiences.

Guest: Ivano Cobelli / @ivanocobell1

Winery: Eredi Cobelli Aldo, Italy / @eredicobellialdo

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This is the second part of our conversation with Rainer Schnaitmann in his wine castle in Fellbach, Germany. In the first episode, he showed me his world-class Lembergers (aka Blaufränkisch) and Spätburgunders, alongside with some mystical Frühburgunder. This part is designated to his terrific Rieslings, a Loire-like Sauvignon, a stimulating Grauburgunder (what a controversy as a general rule), a PIWI wine, and a serious "funwine" a dry Muskat Trollinger Rosé.

As always, you can also watch the episode on the Wine Ghosts Youtube channel, this time without the contribution of Zoom, like in the good old days. Oh and you can also find an extra material on Youtube as well, where Rainer grabs a giant map and explains his vineyards in great detail.

I hope you'll get the chance to savor these wines soon, too! But till then please enjoy!

| Guest: Rainer Schnaitmann | Instagram: @rainerderschnaitmann

| Winery: Schnaitmann, Fellbach, Baden Württemberg, Germany

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Since the second lockdown has hit Austria, I’ve been staying in Baden Württemberg again, till the Austrian gastronomy is allowed to serve guests again. But that also means, that I’ve had the great fortune to personally visit another iconic producer of the Rems Valley: Rainer Schnaitmann. So I highly recommend to check out our conversation in its entirety on the Wine Ghosts Youtube channel. Rainer is located in Fellbach, on the Eastern side of the Rems Valley, closer to Stuttgart, thereby cultivates his vineyards organically under slightly warmer climatic conditions than my previous guests from the valley. Above all, Rainer is most famous for his Lembergers and Spätburgunders, that are dreamy juices with freshness, playfulness, grace and a hint of “dirtiness”. Since we’ve talked for about two hours at his wine castle, I’ve decided to cover the reds in this first part, while the whites in another episode. However, this episode features the terroir in great detail, the natural winemaking approach behind the Schnaitmann wines, our tasting notes, and much more. Enjoy.

Guest: Rainer Schnaitmann | Instagram: @rainerderschnaitmann |

Winery: Schnaitmann, Fellbach, Baden Württemberg, Germany |

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Wine Ghosts Website: www.wineghosts.com |

Wine Ghosts' E-Mail: [email protected]

There is a winery in the tiny village of Pünderich in Germany, at the fringe of the Middle Mosel and the steeper Terassen Mosel, bearing the name of an experienced, benevolent winemaker: Clemens Busch. Mr. Busch started to work organically more than 40 years ago and was one of the founding fathers of the ’first group of organic producers in Germany’, which was the requisite step towards the biodynamic revolution seen amongst some of the best producers in the country these days. The majority of his wines are still ungrafted, terraced and a number of them have even heard the cannons fired during the First World War. The Busch wines don’t follow the anticipated Mosel taste, but rather expresses the unmatchable “Busch-style” from all three major slate profiles found in the Mosel region. I’ve had one of the best Rieslings in my life during this conversation, so I urge you to find yours in the Clemens Busch portfolio and stock up on them for your grandchildren. Enjoy.

Guest: Clemens Busch | Clemens Busch Winery | Mosel | Germany

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After getting through only half of our Christmas wine list in the first part of the podcast with Sebastian, we've decided to cover the red wines in this second part. You'll get an idea of what to pair with a lighter red wine like a Lemberger, and how does it differ from pairing a dish with a bold and tannic red ghost like a Priorat or a Barbaresco. As you see on the thumbnail, our beloved ladies also joined us for the last part of the video to share their "sufferings" while living with wine geeks like us. Of course, we’ve also talked about dessert wines and possible dessert options, memorable wines of the year and a lot more. It was a fun talk full of laughter and wine. Please enjoy and I wish you all a happy Christmas with memorable wine ghosts! You can also check out my entire Christmas wine list on the Wine Ghosts’s Instagram, hopefully together with some tasting notes and edible courses to enjoy.

Guest: Sebastian Giraldo | Instagram: @setigiraldo

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