Von Winning, Pinot Royale 2020

Sleek, silky and deliciously satisfying, this is a stunning Pinot that works in so many ways. Exclusive to The Allotment, you can drink this wonderful red with a really wide range of food or savour it on its own: never will it disappoint. High class and irresistible. If you love great Burgundy (but don't love the way the prices are going...) then this is for you!

This brilliant red is made from Pinot Noir grapes grown in high density plantings in specific sites within Deidesheim's Herrgottsacker and Ruppertsberg's Reiterpfad vineyards.

These are some of the most famous white wine vineyards in the world: that's right, this operation takes up valuable space that could be given over to Riesling! However, the understanding that our friends in Von Wining have about specific patches of soil in these vineyards is second to none, which allows for sensational results from whatever it is that they choose to plant.

Indeed, this wine follows the story of its Riesling siblings with intensity, elegance and an underpinning acidity that makes your mouth water for more. The soils are loamy-sand, pink sandstone and limestone marl; just giving the perfect balance for aromatics, texture and elegance that are delivered to you in spades in this bottle.

The grapes are hand picked (of course) and ferment spontaneously in neutral oak vats before aging in barriques for 18 months, a third of which are new, during which time a full malolactic fermentation occurs. It really speaks to the ethos of a natural handling of both grapes and then wines - hands off, let nature take its course.

This is something that they are keen to stress in reference to their vineyards: why aren't they organic? When they answered me I began to wonder why anyone ever IS organic: Von Winning reckon that the list of what is allowed in Organic viticulture is way too lenient - they are, if you like, supra-organic, keeping to absolute minimum additions of a very small range of treatments and sometimes, none at all.

If you don't know wines from this winery yet, get to!

One of Germany’s longest-running wineries, Weingut von Winning was founded in 1849 and given a new lease of life by Achim Niederberger in 2007. Bringing on board winemaker Stephan Attman and, in time, Andreas Hütwohl, the project was one of clear and brilliant simplicity: the wines from Pfalz were some of the most famous and expensive wines available in the 1850s.

• Why?
• What were they like?
• Why does no one really drink them as much any more?

The answers were fairly obvious:

1. They were amazing
2. Because they were amazing;
3. They became sweet and mass-produced and lost all sense of terroir and authenticity.

The "New" Von Winning then was a clear plan to resurrect old winemaking techniques using the best grapes and single vineyards available, which, as it turned out, was fairly easy because the best grapes were quite literally on their doorstep. These wines then are fermented in large wooden barrels that are 1,200 litres in capacity and oval in shape, they are a traditional German barrel called Stücke, literally 'pieces'.

Most of these wines, especially the whites, have no oak flavour impact, but allow for the Riesling to be really expressive and lose the twangy metallic texture that can come from some stainless steel only fermented wines. As we've got to know them, the wines that they make from a dizzying number of different vineyard names have offered myriad views of Riesling through the same multi-faceted crystal.

In Pinot Noir, it is the site selection, gentle handling and working with slowly increasing temperatures that allow for such fine wines to be made. They have a sassy vibrancy and a sweet-fruit character that is usually the preserve of the single vineyards Burgundies or top estates from the New World.

We feel very lucky. If you like really good Burgundy, then this is a MUST for you!