"The intensely yellow-golden, unfiltered 2022 Chardonnay –N– opens with a deep, rich and intense yet pure and elegantly mineral nose that indicates fine yeasty notes and those of crushed limestone rocks (which are covered by sandy loam here). Vinified in larger oak vats, this full-bodied Chardonnay is clear, rich and very elegant on the nobly textured palate that reveals serious mineral grip and structure and a long, intense and beautifully balanced finish with saline notes in the clear, clean and fresh aftertaste. This is a fabulous wine that survived an extremely dry and sunny midsummer. 12.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in November 2023. This Chardonnay is based on massal selections from Burgundy planted in 1992 between Niederkirchen and Friedelsheim on loess and clay soils with limestone in the subsoil (pH 8). Harvested on 2 September at 87° Oechsle, the grapes were pressed for five hours using a gentle program with little pressure in order to preserve the acidity and produce an elegant Chardonnay rich in finesse, even in a warm vintage such as 2022. The must was fermented spontaneously in tonneaux and in a new stück (1,200-liter oval oak) vat. The malolactic fermentation also took place spontaneously in winter, allowing the carbonic acid to keep the wine fresh and reductive. The first small addition of sulfur was only made when the wine was racked by gravity. This Chardonnay was bottled without filtration, like all the wines in the excellent N series." (Stephan Reinhardt in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate)
