Unbottled – Schuh Klausenberg Monopole Chardonnay

Saxony is another underrated wine region. Fortunately, Jens from Weinkombinat Hugel stocks a range of excellent wines from the area. I chose the Chardonnay from Schuh because it comes from a monopole vineyard.

The Schuh vineyard owns the entire Klausenberg site. They planted a Massale Selection from Burgundy in the granite-syenite weathered soil. They do not defoliate, separate the grapes and use a selective manual harvest. After gentle pressing in a basket press, the wine ferments in used 300-litre barrels from France and Austria. After racking, the wine ages on fine yeast in the same barrels. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration, with only a minimal amount of sulphur.

The Klausenberg Chardonnay opens with subtle fruit flavours, soon accompanied by gentle reductive notes. I detected hints of green gooseberries and not fully ripe white peach. The taste reveals a well-integrated acidity, yellow apples and mineral flavours. Towards the end, a certain salinity comes through. This is certainly an excellent German wine that can rival the country’s finest chardonnays.