2Naturkinder Weinschwärmer

Micheal Voelker and Melanie Drese spent many years working in other fields, traveling the world and living in Heidelberg, Regensburg, London, and New York. In 2013 they returned to begin taking over Michael’s father’s winery in Kitzingen in Bavarian Germany. Michael’s father is a long time winemaker, who in fact sits on the quality control board for the appellation, but has been very supportive of Michael’s desire to make wine without additives.

They began to make natural wines under the 2naturkinder label as a side project for the winery, and since then have decided to fully expand the project to take over more of the winery’s production. Michael has a particular interest in bats in the vineyard, and a few of the labels are inspired by them. He obtains bat guano from a local nature conservancy, which he uses when fertilizer is required. He is also sponsoring a research project to fund the role of bats in the vineyard.

Manual harvest. The grapes from the younger Riesling section of the vineyard got pressed directly to maintain a razor-sharp acidity while the Grauburgunder grapes were destemmed and fermented on the skins for about a week. The two batches were blended in spring 2020 into an old 2.400l barrel and bottled in March 2021. No fining, no filter, no sulfur added. Lovely orange hue, peach and spicy herbal profile courtesy of the Pinot Gris, refreshing acidity, solid structure and drinkability thanks to Riesling. Highly drinkable and entertaining.