Only 11% alcohol, fermented naturally, no sugar added, no sulfur added. 100% juice. To emphasize the absence of additives, Andi even eschewed adding a front label on the bottle. This is light, fresh and yet has a delightful texture and some nice, cleansing tannins on the finish. Perhpas the first ever Swabian no-sulfur wine, this is somehow closer to Poulsard than Schiava, and came as total revelation. Trollinger, who knew?

Whereas winemaking was a hobby for earlier generations at this domain (a way of winding down after a day's work at the nearby Mercedes-Benz factory), Andi Knauss has long known he wanted to be a vigneron. After wine school and a stage in Austria (where Andi learned how to work organically in the vineyard, and to care for the soil) he took over the reins at Weingut Knauss in 2004, and in less than 10 years, he has developed one of the most important and exciting estates we know of. The vineyards are worked naturally,
and winemaking is careful and conscientious. Natural fermentations and minimal sulfur are the norm throughout the range, and some cuvees see no sulfur at all.