Kraemer Silvaner 2018

Location: Germany, Franken

Winemaker: Stephan Kraemer

Grapes: Silvaner

Winemaking: Organic. Hand harvest of .26 hectare parcel of 50 year old vines growing in silex soils. Fermented with 20% on the skins, 20% whole cluster, pressed with an old basket press and back-blended with the base wine, aged in regional oak barrels.

From the Importer PortoVino: Husband and wife team of Simone and Stephan Kraemer are farmers, with a working 65 hectare organic farm of heirloom grains, carrots, and sunflowers. They are also passionate wine producers of 6.5 hectares of vines in Franken’s Taubertal Valley, where Riesling is nary to be found, but where Germany’s most enthralling old vine Müller-Thurgau and Sylvaner are produced from what remains of medieval cru vineyards.

Explore Franken a little, and you’ll soon start seeing the many crumbling stone walls, remnants of medieval monastic demarcations of long abandoned vineyards. Nowadays, only the best vineyards sites have remained. Kraemer has parcels on the steep cru slopes of Hasennestle (with Muschelkalk or Shell Limestone soils), and Feurstein (Silex soils); they buy some organic grapes from their friend who has a small parcel on the Kronsberg slopes.

The agriculture and vinification is rigorously hands off, with wild unplowed vineyards, and spontaneous fermentations. In 1989, they became certified Naturland (similar to Demeter), and were one of the first organic farms in Germany to obtain this certification

Stephan and Simone are a savvy and forward thinking couple, with degrees and deep knowledge of agriculture, chemistry, winemaking, and MIG welding techniques for modified plow angles. They have so much good energy! Stephan handles the farming, the wine production, and the bee keeping. Simone runs their restored 18th century farm homestead.. She is also a skilled farm-to-table cook. The last time we were there she made a simple and satisfying salad topped with her house cured carrots, and slices of her hearty Schrotbrot (that healthy mostly whole-wheat rye German bread that’s with lots of seeds inside the loaf, and on the crust).

As we ate and drank the wines with abandon, kids were racing their toy tractors in the circle of the courtyard, and iron ones rested with fresh dust a few meters away. It seemed a fitting contrast to explain Kramer’s wines: carefree, a bit Tangerine Dream in vibe, born from hard work and a gourmand’s winemaking decisions. These are deeply satisfying, yet sprightly 11% conduits of the best of Franken’s medieval vineyards.