Tessa Maria Sprenger

As our collective education in Germany's top producers continues to evolve, a general rule we obey is "follow the winemaker" - that is, the most famous winemakers will have a protege or dozens as the decades roll along, and more often than not the best qualities of the mentors are emulated by the students. Without a doubt, that family tree of sorts has led us to some fascinating discoveries all over Germany; this extends to the South, in Baden, where a former student of Weingut Keller has most closely exhibited not only the dedication, but the spirit & humility that we have long loved in Keller.

Tessa Maria Sprenger's small plots of vineyard land lie on the "Käsebrod" - literally translated, "Cheese Bread" - in Heidelberg, where she grew up. The proud title-bearer of Germany's smallest wine region, this part of Baden was never known for high-class wines, but more as a grape source for commercial wineries. After her experiences both with Keller, as well as a vintage with Les Horees (Burgundy), Tessa's mind returned often to these plots near her home, and near the restaurant where her partner, Christian was a chef; could she apply the similar strategies of her mentors to her own village? Where there is passion, there is almost always triumph.

Over the duration of harvests with other producers, Tessa would make the journeys to and from Baden - the 2023 harvest she worked at Les Horees, while at the same time overseeing her first Käsebrod harvest, having found a few unique plots with soils she recognized from her travels: deep red clay in some of the hills, with sandy limestone keuper in other portions. Burgundian grapes were present, just not the ones you'd necessarily think of - Pinot Blanc, some Auxerrois, and a tiny abandoned plot of Germany's oldest crossbred friend, Muller-Thurgau.

"These vineyards - forty to some seventy-five years of age in the vines, they seemed so energetic," Tessa says. "But here, nobody does just one varietal, one plot, and that's what we wanted." We probed further: beyond just your experience, what informs your winemaking? "Honestly, we make wine for us; we love Ganevat - in fifteen minutes, the bottle is empty." (Pause for laughter) "Those sorts of wines - fresh, mineral, long, perfect. Between classic and natural - no filter, as we say, but it has to be clean."

For her first solo vintage to have come in 2023, during such a rainy season in which she was shuttling to and from Burgundy, what are tiny amounts of wine are scintillatingly, lip-smacking good. Just as intended, they are bright and clean, this and the quantity speaking to a hyper-focused sorting of grapes to find the very best.

VITICULTURE & VINIFICATION

In the vineyard, everything is worked by hand: no tractor, no chemicals. With great care, very little sulfur is needed throughout the production, if any. Both the Auxerrois and Pinot Blanc, their plots side-by-side, are on the limestone-sandstone keuper, while the Muller-Thurgau (and some Spatburgunder) are located on deeper red clay soils. The M-T is the oldest portion of the vineyard, with vines up to 75 years of age which had been unharvested for 2 years prior to Tessa's leasing it.

The grapes are brought to a small garage for vinification. The M-T spends one day on its skins prior to pressing. Wines are all aged in barrique - Auxerrois there is only 1 barrique for 2023 & 2024, but the 500 bottles of Pinot Blanc & Muller-Thurgau will double in 2024 thanks to another vineyard acquisition by Tessa. This is essentially the maximum quantity that can be produced in the current winemaking space.