Mari - Join the Lama Sparkling Wine

This one couldn’t be more off-piste if it was Roger Moore in that ski chase through the woods in The Spy Who Loved Me. A gently sparkling, medium-sweet fusion of Mosel Riesling, fermented Yerba Maté (tea leaves) from Argentina and Austrian elderflower syrup, it also has a license to thrill, baby! It is made by German madman and all-round good guy, Jan Matthias Klein, whom we adore. Jan’s winery, Staffelter Hof, which produces the Riesling for Mari, owns some of Germany’s oldest vineyards and is spearheading a successful campaign called Der Klitzekleine Ring to rescue them from decline, as well as getting stuck into fun projects like Mari. Read more about Jan here: http://www.oddbins.com/wine-guide/winemakers/jan-klein.

A gently sparkling, medium-sweet fusion of Mosel Riesling, Yerba Maté (tea leaves) from Argentina and Austrian elderflower syrup, this is seriously leftfield!

Staffelter Hof - the winery that makes this Riesling-based wine – is amongst the oldest companies in the world, dating back as far as AD 862 and looks back to at least 1150 years of wine making tradition. In 862 King Lothar II great-grandson of Carl the Great, donated the winery to the monastery of Stavelot (hence the name “’Staffelter’) a small town now situated in Belgium 130 km away from the Mosel river. In 1805 the last ‘manager’ of the site, ancestor Peter Schneiders, bought the winery from the French government that had taken away all the goods from the church during secularisation. Since then the Schneiders (now Klein) family have been running the winery concentrating on the world famous Mosel Rieslings. Today over 75% of the nine hectares of vineyard land are planted with Riesling, arguably the most versatile grape variety in the world. Two thirds of the grapes are grown on the breathtakingly steep slopes of the picturesque Mosel valley producing unique, astonishing wines with vibrant fruit and mineral flavours. Since 2012 all their grapes have grown organically and they believe in minimal interference with nature.

Born in 1977, winemaker Jan Klein studied viticulture and enology, then wine marketing and economics, before completing internships in Provence, New Zealand and Australia. Since 2006, he has been responsible for the family winery in the Mosel.

Mari is unique; it is a beautifully gently sparkling, medium-sweet fusion of Mosel Riesling, fermented Yerba Maté (tea leaves) from Argentina and Austrian elderflower syrup. The winery uses quality Riesling wines and blends them with fermented yerba maté extract. With the kick, energy and limey zing of Mosel Riesling, the earthy, smoky notes of fermented Maté and the fresh, distinct floral flavours of Elderflower, Mari is a drink like no other. Beautifully balanced, medium sweet with a gentle carbonation it's a perfect summer tipple. With its medium sweetness, it’s a great match for light, spicy Korean food.