Variety: Elbling
When you think about the Upper Mosel, forget everything you think you know about it. In this region, you won’t find any slate or Riesling. Winemaker Matthias Hild is bucking the trends and pushing the envelope. He operates at his own pace and on his own terms. He marches to the beat of his own drum. Conventional wisdom would say he’s crazy for trying to single-handedly save the old, terraced parcels of Elbling, but it’s so charming. The returns on an investment like this are so slim that they make no business sense, though it’s moves like these that make winemakers like Hild so intriguing.
This is Elbling—the grape of the Upper Mosel coupled with limestone and screaming with acidity, in a rather good way. The wine is treated in a way not unlike Champagne. It spends 9-18 months on the lees, with a bit of dosage (sugar) added, then it is disgorged just as a Champagne would be.
