Weingut Lutz: German wines for the global palate
Let’s taste some German wines! Germany is the tenth largest producer of wines globally and the biggest producer of the wonder grape, Riesling. ‘Rhineland is wine land,’ according to an old proverb and, with its elegantly light Pinot Noirs and aromatic whites, spanning from bone-dry to super sweet, I think it’s time more people explored the wines of this diverse cool-climate region.
Rheinhessen (or Rhine-Hesse as we often call it in England), located on the left bank of the Rhine river between Worms and Bingen, is Germany’s largest wine region. It is here, we find winemaker Stefan Lutz and his estate, Weingut Lutz. Stefan focuses on making vegan wines for every day pleasure, that will pair with all kinds of food or just good conversation and laughter.
His Grundstock range is born from one of the best terroirs in Rhinehessen. In case you need to polish up your German, Grundstock is the word for ‘basis; foundation; root; core; basic stock’. I guess, in this context, it means ‘upon which everything else is built’, which can refer to winemaking, community, friendships and all sorts of other great things.
There are three wines in the Grundstock collection - a white, rosé and a red. He also has a Lutz range, which I reviewed as well.
Grundstock White
Made from 45% Pinot Blanc, 30% Pinot Gris, 15% Chardonnay and 10% Gewürztraminer, this is a wine with lots of enticing summery aromas. I got a fruit basket brimming with ripe tropical delights - mangoes, pineapples and peaches. Add to that, the sweet scents of apple blossom and jasmine. The lushness of the fruit is expressed further in the silky texture of the wine. It definitely has some weight to it, but this is balanced with a fresh acidity, making the wine much brighter than at first apparent. I enjoyed this delicious wine with a king prawn salad.
Grundstock Rosé
Take your perceptions of what a German rosé might be and throw them out of the window! This is pale in colour and light in weight, making for a beautiful, dry, refreshing rosé. Taking note of the clear trend for the Provence style, Stefan has taken 100% Pinot Noir and has delicately brought out its glorious strawberry notes, alongside surprising peach and melon. It’s much more on the wild side than the confected side and there are some herbaceous tones too - I got thyme, basil and mint.
Grundstock Red
This blend of 55% Pinot Noir, 15% Portugieser, 10% Dornfelder, 20% Saint Laurent shows you what you can do when you take cool climate grapes and make a globally-pleasing wine out of them. The warmth in this wine is incredible. Rich black fruits all laced with the spicy, toastiness of oak, complete with chocolate and coffee tones. I was left with the pleasant taste of sticky caramel.
Lutz Sauvignon Blanc
Wow, this wine is super fresh and clean! Much less of the cool-climate ‘green’ characteristics and much more of the New World tropical characteristics - lots of passionfruit, grapefruit and melon. It brings an accurate, linear acidity to the palate and leaves the mouth totally zinged!
Lutz Regent
This is Stefan’s fireplace red. Secondary aromas are present on first whiff: vanilla, chocolate and toasty oak. The fruit is there - lots of baked blackberries, blueberries and cherries. It’s like when you take a fruit crumble out of the oven and you can smell the sweet fruits mingled with the rich butteriness. The fruit is more concentrated on the palate and it stands up to the spicy heat of the wine, delivering a full-bodied, velvety, textured experience in the mouth.
Overall, this is a great selection of wines from Weingut Lutz. I think Stefan has made them with the global market in mind and I’m sure they will appeal to the wider collective palate. All at around the 13% ABV mark, these are wines that challenge the cool-climate expectations in more ways than one.
Visit Weingut Lutz here.