Marto "Pinot Gris"

Grapes: Pinot Gris

Region: Rheinesshen, Germany 

Vintage: 2022

Viticulture: Organic 

Soils: Heavy Clay + Limestone 

Vinification: Hand harvested and direct press

Aging: Minimum 1 year in neutral oak barrel

Fining or Filtering: None 

Sulfur: None 

Notes from the Importer: We were lucky enough to encounter Martin “Marto” Wörner right at the beginning of his solo winemaking career. At the time, he was 23, having finished his postgraduate stage at Tom Lubbe’s domaine in the South of France. His father, more a farmer of grapes than a winemaker, was in poor health and Marto had returned to his hometown to assume part of the family business. It began with the transformation of an old, decrepit, 300 square-foot cellar right under the house. Adjacent to what were once stables for horse-drawn carriages, the ancient cellar had once served as a beer tavern for merchants passing through the Franco-German border areas. Martin furnished the space with his father’s lapsed stückfasser, a type of Rheinhessen foudre similar to those used in Alsace, along with a few ancient Mosel barrels. His winemaking, at the beginning, registered as a kind of radical intervention in the stale, anti-natural-wine climate of Western Germany. His whites, which consisted primarily of aromatic hybrid varieties considered inappropriate for “noble” winemaking, were picked on the crispy side and macerated, à la Matassa, showcasing their wild perfume. That he baptized this cloudy amber potion “Weiss”, a term normally reserved for a pedestrian white wine, was basically a big middle finger to everyone who told him natural wine would not succeed in the Rheinhessen. 

In the intervening six years, West German wine culture has changed and so has Marto. Though he is too modest to admit it, the flourishing of young natural winemakers in the area owes much to Marto’s influence. Natural winemaking is now in fashion and “Weiss”, like the humble “Vin de France” has become a rallying cry for a younger generation of winemakers. At the same pace, Martin has gone far beyond his early forays into orange wine to explore classical winemaking on his own terms, which precludes make-up and spoofalation. A series of trips to Alsace and Burgundy inspired him to plant Pinot Blanc, Gris and Noir and to revisit his Riesling, which contrary to the early years, is now picked late, directly pressed and left in barrel without topping. His partner Alanna Lagamba, now a winemaker in her own right, influenced him to push harder and further on his Pinot Noirs, to extract more material and to destem. Weiss remains as youthful and wild as ever but it seems obvious that Martin, now 29, and Alanna have their sights set on the long-term of the Domaine.