Julia Bertram

Ahr | Dernau

For more than a century, Julia Bertram’s family has grown and made wine in the tiny, marginal Ahr Valley. When Julia took over the estate in 2017, she directed her focus first toward the cherished old family sites, where she organically farms a total of 6.8 hectares of precipitous slopes all planted to Spätburgunder (pinot noir, in German). “What makes our wines unique,” Julia explains, “is the combination of slate and Spätburgunder in such a northerly region.” Across the board, Julia’s wines impress with their slender elegance, their arresting coolness and clarity, and above all a precisely mapped sense of place.

Julia Bertram 2017 Sonnenberg Frühburgunder

Frühburgunder is an ancient variety, likely a mutation of pinot noir and often disregarded as anything but pinot noir in other parts of the world; however, in the Ahr Valley the distinction between the two is taken seriously and exemplified in the marked differences in the region’s wines. Frühburgunder translates as ‘early pinot’ as it tends to ripen 2-3 weeks earlier than spätburgunder (late pinot). Julia focuses her frühuburgunder attention in the vineyard of Neuenahrer Sonnenberg where she organically manages 48 year old vines on Sonnenberg’s loam soils. The wine is macerated and fermented in open stainless fermenters before finishing its fermentations in German oak barrels. Elevage takes place over 15 months in German oak barrels, 50% of which are new, and an additional 3 months in stainless steel before bottling.

  • 2017
  • Frühburgunder
  • Germany
  • Ahr
  • Conversion Organic
  • Sonnenberg
  • Loam
  • 15 months German oak barrel (50% new), 3 months stainless steel
  • Stainless steel, German oak barrel (50% new)
  • 0.7
  • 750 ml

822 Salisbury Turnpike - Milan, New York - 12571 | 845-266-0376 | https://schatziwines.com | info@schatziwines.com