Schweigen Kalkmergel Grauburgunder
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2028
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
creamy mushroom risotto, roasted pork loin, pan-seared veal chops
✨ Technical Specifications
The Schweigen Kalkmergel Grauburgunder is a masterful expression of Weingut Bernhart's unique cross-border heritage. Situated in Schweigen-Rechtenbach, the vineyards straddle the boundary between Germany's Pfalz region and France's Alsace, a geopolitical curiosity shaped by centuries of European history. This wine is defined by its 'Kalkmergel' (limestone marl) soils, which yield a Grauburgunder of remarkable tension, structure, and mineral depth. Unlike simpler, fruit-forward expressions of Pinot Gris, Bernhart's approach involves careful hand-harvesting, gentle pressing, and maturation on the fine lees, often utilizing traditional oak casks. This traditional craftsmanship coaxes out complex aromas of ripe pear, yellow apple, and wild herbs, underpinned by a distinct smoky, chalky minerality that reflects the ancient marine limestone beneath the vines.
🍾 About the Producer
Weingut Bernhart is situated in Schweigen-Rechtenbach along the southernmost fringe of the Pfalz, right at the French frontier near the historic Deutsches Weintor. While the family's agricultural roots date back centuries, estate bottling commenced under Willi and Wilma Bernhart in 1971, followed by their accession to the VDP in 2004 and formal organic certification in 2012. Today led by Gerd and Sabine Bernhart, the estate commands a singular cross-border terroir: approximately two-thirds of its roughly 20 hectares of vineyards are technically situated on French soil in Alsace, governed by special bilateral treaties that allow the wines to bear German designations. The viticultural backbone rests on dense, fossil-rich limestone, calcareous marl, and clay deposits across benchmark cru plots such as the Schweigener Sonnenberg. Winemaking emphasizes spontaneous fermentation, lees contact, and judicious wood aging, generating deeply structured, mineral-driven white and red expressions epitomized by their Kalkmergel and Grosses Gewächs bottlings.
🍇 Grapes
Grauburgunder
🍷 ABV
12.5-13.5%