Pictures: Kai Schaetzel with Julia Eichenblatt in 2024 and with Christian Schiller in 2011. See: Christian Schiller with Kai Schaetzel at Weingut Schaetzel in 2011. Fore more on Kai Schaetzel and his Wines see: A New Fixture in the Reemerging Red Slope of Nierstein - Visiting Kai Schaetzel and his Weingut Schaetzel in Nierstein, Rheinhessen, Germany
Stuart Pigott (James Suckling) on facebook: Kai Schätzel (left) and Jule Eichblatt (right) of Weingut Schätzel in Nierstein are probably the most #radical #winemaker team in #rheinhessen #germany pushing the envelope of #naturalwine #riesling and #silvaner and making excellent #kabinett #wine !
Despite
trends toward vineyard consolidation, Germany's vineyard holdings
remain fragmented, leading to many ambitious small producers. One such
winery is Schatzel in Nierstein, Rheinhessen. After Kai Schatzel took
over from his father, the once conventional winery transformed, and
alongside Jule Eichblatt, they became prominent figures in the natural
wine movement. Schatzel’s dry wines contain no added sulfites, although
no wine is entirely sulfite-free. They focus on exploring
new aromas and flavors, pushing established boundaries. The 98-point
Schätzel Riesling Rheinischer Landwein Re is a non-vintage,
limited-edition cuvée made from dry rieslings from 2016 to 2023,
showcasing deep lees character from five years of maturation in
600-liter Stockinger oak casks. With an alcohol content of just 10.5
percent, it features striking aromas of quince, old-fashioned pear
varieties, and dried herbs.
Schätzel - naturvin.dk
Profile
Kai Schätzel and Jule Eichblatt have revitalized the family estate with a modern approach and an emphasis on low-intervention winemaking, gaining recognition as a leading figure in the region. Practicing organic and biodynamic viticulture with trees and sheep in the rows, the estate manages 10 hectares of vineyards, predominantly planted with Riesling and Silvaner. The steep Grand Cru vineyards in Nierstein (Ölberg, Hipping, Pettenthal) with their Rotliegend ("red slate") soils contribute to the distinctive minerality and salin, precise character of his wines.
In the vineyard
Schätzel's winemaking philosophy is centered around minimal intervention, creating pure wines with clarity and precision. Schätzel is combining the most successful techniques from Champagne, Jura, and Jerez. Fermentation happens spontaneously in large, used oak barrels, and the wines age on the lees and under flor for up to 8 years. They do not filter or fine their wines, and they mostly produce their wines without additional sulfur, only adding it sparingly, if necessary. While some of the wines reflect a single vintage, others are multi-vintage wines. Some of them are produced in a solera, other's are the result of individually aged vintages, that are carefully blended in different proportions until Kai and Jule are satisfied with the cuvée.
In the cellar
This holistic approach to farming combined with techniques from Champagne, Jura, and Jerez in the cellar make what Schätzel calls "modern wines". Within this category of modern wines, Schätzel produces two styles: The sweet wines (orange label from vintage 2023) are made in a more classic style while the dry wines (blue and white labels) are unfiltered, unfined, and all influenced by autolysis and flor. The range includes the entry level naturweiss and their estate Riesling3000, as well as village and single vineyard wines, for example the Steiner Silvaner, that comes from the Große Lage Vineyard Hipping. His icon Riesling is Reh, combining 8 vintages from the rare Pettenthal (GG) vineyard with more than 80-year-old vines. All the barrels for Reh have been aged on the lees and under flor, and the winery released this wine for the first time in October 2024: 16-23 Reh, with Pettenthal from the vintages 2016 until 2023, in different proportions.
Schätzel -beckywasserman.co
In
2008, Kai Schätzel joined his 600-year old family weingut based in
Nierstein in the renowned Roter Hang (Red Slope) of the Rheinhessen. He
converted to biodynamic farming and became one of only two natural
wineries in the VDP. His partner Jule Eichblatt joined full time in
2022. She is deeply involved in shaping the future of the winery. They
started “Kommune 3000”, a thinktank of sorts, that envisions what
viticulture and wines could look like in the year 3000.
In the
meantime, the canopy is mostly untrimmed and sometimes braided into a
pergola to stem water evaporation and shade the grapes. There is little
to no till. Ouessant sheep with fairytale horns graze the vineyards
under the watchful eyes of chickens.
After tasting old wines
from their cellar, Kai realized that they were more stable thanks to
lower alcohols and pH’s. He has thus become mindful of pH and picks on
the al dente side. Sulfites on the dry wines have been avoided since
2018 and filtration since 2020. Grapes are foot crushed and pressed over
12 hours or more. In the cellar’s old Stück and Halbstück (1200 and
600L foudres) flor developed a few years ago. The more Kai tasted the
more he loved it, especially after realizing that it helped stabilize
the wines. The flor is now a signature, but it’s not the same as Jura
flor: more discreet, without jaune aromas or richness.
Since
2016, Kai has been aging separately and without added sulfites a portion
of every vintage of his Pettenthal vineyard. He wasn’t sure what he’d
do with these wines, but he finally bottled a blend of vintages 2016 to
2023. It is called REH riesling. There are also two soleras: Steiner
Silvaner and Steiner Riesling.
The Schätzel dry wines combine an
addicting reductive/leesyness with discreet flor and a hyper tense and
crystalline palate. We are fully immersed in umami land without any of
the typical peach and citrus of German riesling. Classic Kabinetts are
still produced and they are superb. But with unavoidable SO2 and
filtration, Kai and Jule feel ambivalent about them even if they know
building the future won’t happen in a day.
With Kai Schätzel in Nierstein
Weingut Schätzel is located in Nierstein, about 45 Minutes from Frankfurt by car. I have tasted Kai`s wines and have been to his estate many times, including during ombiasy WineTours with my wife Annette Schiller.
See: Tour, Tasting, and Lunch at Weingut Schätzel in Nierstein, Rheinhessen – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Pictures: Lunch cum Tasting with Nanne Schätzel, see: Tour, Tasting, and Lunch at Weingut Schätzel in Nierstein, Rheinhessen – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Pictures: In the Cellar with Nanne Schätzel, see: German Wine and Culture Tour by ombiasy, 2013
I even celebrated my 60th birthday at Weingut Schätzel.
See: Celebrating Riesling and my Birthday at Weingut Schaetzel in Nierstein, Rheinhessen, Germany
Pictures: In the Roter Hang with Kai Schaetzel at the Birthday Party in 2012
I visited Kai for the first time in 2011, shortly after he had taken over Weingut Schätzel from his parents (in 2008). In the prestigious Gault Millau WeinGuide Deutschland 2011, Weingut Schaetzel moved from 1 to 2 grapes (with 5 grapes being the maximum).
“A new fixture in the reemerging Red Slope of Nierstein”, noted the Gault Millau WeinGuide Deutschland 2011.
Pictures: Christian Schiller with Kai Schaetzel at Weingut Schaetzel in 2011. Fore more on Kai Schaetzel and his Wines see: A New Fixture in the Reemerging Red Slope of Nierstein - Visiting Kai Schaetzel and his Weingut Schaetzel in Nierstein, Rheinhessen, Germany
Instagram Tasting with Kai Schätzel in Washington DC
In 2022, I participated in a tasting of Weingut Schätzel wines with Kai Schätzel, but it was quite unusual, at least for me.
It
was an online tasting with Kai Schätzel. The
event took place on Instagram.
Me, being in Washington DC currently, could not order the wines, although I have a sizeable number of Schätzel wines in my wine cellar in my home in Washington DC.
The event took place while I was on my way from home to Washington DC downtown to participate in an in-person event of Aldo Aldige wines. Under the circumstances, I could only see a part of the event, first, sitting in the Metro, next, walking through Washington DC downtown, and finally at an Italian restaurant in Washington DC downtown, waiting for the Aldo Aldige tasting to start.
Pictures: Instagram Tasting with Kai Schätzel, Weingut Schätzel, Rheinhessen, Germany in Washington DC, USA
schiller-wine - Related PostingsTasting the Wines of the Roter Hang (Red Slope), Nierstein, Rheinhessen, in the Roter Hang, Germany – Schiller’s Favorites
Celebrating Riesling and my Birthday at Weingut Schaetzel in Nierstein, Rheinhessen, Germany
A New Fixture in the Reemerging Red Slope of Nierstein - Visiting Kai Schaetzel and his Weingut Schaetzel in Nierstein, Rheinhessen, Germany
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Tour, Tasting, and Lunch at Weingut Schätzel in Nierstein, Rheinhessen – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
German Wine and Culture Tour by ombiasy, 2013
