Raumland Blanc de Blancs Grande Reserve Extra Brut 2010
Type: Sparkling
Country: Germany
Region: Rheinhessen
Grape Variety: 100% Pinot Blanc
Viticulture: Certified Organic
Climate: Mild temperatures, surrounded by protective hills and forests, long sun hours and little rainfall
Terroir: Vines grow on a soilbed of brown limestone loam (terra fusca) in the top layer, which is otherwise only found on old land surfaces far from active erosion
Winemaking: Hand-harvested and pressed as a whole bunch. Aged for 120 months on the lees. Bottled unfiltered
Color: Brilliant gold
Nose: Elegant complexity with aromas of citrus and candied lemon over subtle hints of yeast dough
Palate: Delicate and yet well structured. This sparkling wine is reminiscent of quince and yellow apple and is joined by hints of roasted hazelnuts and nut butter
About the Winery:
In 1990, Sekthaus Raumland was founded by Volker Raumland, often described as the pioneer / the grand seigneur / the Sektpapst in Germany. Volker Raumland is the one who dared to start a new “quality revolution” in German Sparkling Wine. The two daughters Marie-Luise and Katharina are joining the family estate in 2020, continuing with the same passion and love for high-quality German sparkling wine that their parents had and still have.
Sekthaus Raumland is purely focused on the production of Sekt and thus the whole work is organized around and adjusted for the elaboration of the most delicate and finest sparkling wines.
The process is very carefully hand-selected and harvested manually. The grapes are placed in small 15 kg boxes to ensure that none of the fruit is damaged. Grapes are picked at 75 to 80 Oechlse, the optimum must-weight for sparkling wine. Whole cluster pressing is used to preserve fruit aromas with no maceration, no mashing and no pumping of the juice. Only the best part of the grape – the “Cuvée” – is used. It takes up to 4 hours to run the whole cluster press program which involves the careful segmentation of the juice into “Cuvée” (roughly 50% of the most) and “Taille” (roughly 10-20%). To control phenolics the press is stopped after the last “Taille” run. After primary fermentation, blending (assemblage) and bottling, the second alcoholic fermentation occurs in the bottle (traditional bottle fermentation). The sparkling wines are stored in a four-story-deep cellar to achieve optimum ripeness and “pinpoint” mousse. The sparkling wines are continuously monitored and tasted to ensure optimum quality. The factor “time” plays a role of paramount importance for Raumland’s sparkling wines. The “youngest” Sekt lies on lees for a minimum of 4 years, the most prestigious Sekt even up to 15 years (without losing its freshness and crisp character). All the Sekt receive a low level of dosage (all < 6g) to not hide their natural taste.
