Gysler Riesling Brut 2015

Like so many notable Germans before him; Kant, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and David Hasselhoff, Alexander Gysler is a bit of a philosopher. We are of course aware that the Hoff was born in the US, despite his German heritage, but it felt wrong to leave him off the list given that he is obviously the most significant intellectual on that list; Kant had some lovely ideas about ethics, but did he topple the Berlin Wall with his music? Nope.

Better than both however is Alexander Gysler, taking over the family estate when his father was unfortunately taken seriously ill, he initially worked with very conventional winemaking practices. However, after a few years he came to the realisation that his wines were the same year on year, like an industrial product. He quickly changed to biodynamic practices, and believes everything from the energy of his vineyards, the health of his family and of course the quality of his wines are at levels far higher than had he stuck with conventional winemaking. When approaching his sparkling wine, with a nose that is such a pure expression of Riesling but on the palate is reminiscent of a super-premium Blanc de Blancs traditional method, you’d be brave to suggest Alexander isn’t on to something.

This is a family run winery, owned and operated by Alexander Gysler. The winery was built in 1750 and it was Alexander’s father, Gernot Gysler, who first started to focus on just wine, bottline the estates' first vintage in 1969. Alexander took over in 1999 and since then developed the winery to one the most consequent biodynamic farming wineries throughout the whole of Germany. His first vintage received an honorary award from the state. The aim of the Gysler winery is to create wines with individuality while reflecting typicity - each with their own true character, and from this special place only. Honest wines - with an origin and with a future. The change to controlled organic cultivation was made in 2004 – a logical step to producing wines with an authentic terroir character. Since then, the winery operates biodynamically, emphasizing compatibility with the wines, sustainable cultivation and responsible interaction with nature. Weingut Gysler is Demeter-certified – adhering to the world´s strictest control system for organic agriculture.