Silent & Small
Silent & Small
Chardonnay in its purest form as a life's work, that is the idea of
Torsten Klein and Frank Stumm in Gau-Weinheim in northern Rheinhessen.
Frank is the winemaker and looks after the Schuster-Stumm winery,
Torsten is the busy sales and ideas part.
During his internship at Schlossgut Diel in 1999, Torsten met Frank, who was training to be a winemaker at the Pieroth winery across the street.
They lost touch a bit but in 2013 the two met again by chance in Rheinhessen, Frank then planted in 2016 on the advice of Torsten in
Gau-Weinheimer Kaisergarten two plots of Chardonnay.
The site is predestined for this grape variety: calcareous marl with hard limestone in the subsoil. It has a very high carbon content, an eastern exposure, and high pH values. The soil here is among the most calcareous in Rheinhessen, a true gem.
A total of 0.5 hectares are used for production, with the number of bottles typically around 500 per wine. The first official vintage was bottled in 2020.
The plan calls for an estate wine, a local wine (Gau-Weinheimer), and a single-vineyard bottling. It's worth noting that there hasn't been a single-vineyard bottling yet, as strict quality selection is paramount for both of them.
Naturally, the grapes are harvested by hand, whole-bunch pressing is used, and then the wines are transferred to the cellar for spontaneous fermentation. There is a small cellar dedicated to the wines, where they are stored in Burgundy barrels (pieces). Malolactic fermentation (MLF) takes place spontaneously, and 18 months of lees aging is mandatory, as is bottling unfiltered.
I already knew Torsten from his project Josten & Klein, and we met again last year through a roundabout route. I had the chance to taste the wines then, and I'm now delighted to be involved in this project.
Florian Fine Wine’s small wine cosmos has gained a new member: Stumm and Klein.
I hope you enjoy discovering the Chardonnays.
