Grapes: Silvaner
Region: Pfalz, Germany
Vintage: 2019
Viticulture: Biodynamic
Soils: Keuper, special kind of prehistoric-limestone of this area
Vinification: Free run juice with 10% whole cluster top cap; fermentation in steel tanks without temperature control
Aging: Clay amphoras and used barrique (225 L)
Fining or Filtering: None
Sulfur: None added
Notes from the Importer: Odinstal is the Pfalz outlier, a leading biodynamic winery and grand cru monopole, all nestled in a raised valley that lies on the edge of an 1 extinct volcano. The old German name of Odisntal, Odensthal, means ‘Valley of Odes,’ and there’s a growing chorus of wine lovers, both natural and fine, that have good reason to be singing odes to Odinstal. Odinstal’s terraced vineyards remain rustic in nature, and are found at the end of a dirt road that climbs 350 meters to 19th century manor house and cellar. With a view of the upper Rhine plain on the horizon, we are standing in the Pfalz’s highest vineyards. It’s easy to see why this is a grand cru monopole, but is a place that is solemn, with nature intact. Odinstal remains a working farm at its heart, with grazing cows providing fertilizer, and all of the biodynamic tinctures grown and prepared on site. The formal yet impromptu tone, one finds at the winery also comes through in the wines’ style: buttoned up yet wild. Sulphur in the wines is minimal, and many wines are bottled completely without sulphur or filtration (ungeschwefelt & unfiltriert). It’s a long way from the well-known traditional Pfalz estates where high residual sugar, pesticides, and sulphur are still too often found even today.
