Philip Lardot Pinot Gris 2021

100% Pinot Gris

Mosel, Germany

The grapes were de-stemmed, crushed and fermented on the skins for nine days. The cap was only gently turned a little, by hand, once a day. The idea is not to extract, so much as it is to softly infuse. There were no punchdowns or pumpovers. It was then pressed and aged for five months in barrel and one month in steel to settle. Before bottling, 20ppm total of S02 were added; bottled unfined and unfiltered.

This Pinot Gris (or Grauburgunder) was sourced from a parcel in the south-facing, gray-slate Piesporter Falkenberg vineyard. You interject: “I don’t often think of ‘Pinot Gris’ and the Mosel!” Yes, tis true – this is a bit of a rarity, the parcel is roughly .15 of a hectare and it was only planted about six years ago. Things are changing, however, in the Mosel and a forward-thinking young winemaker like Lardot, with a wine like this… well, my gut is that these things will be a part of the story of the Mosel for the future.