Zafran
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2028
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Moroccan spiced tagine, roasted pork belly, mature hard cheeses
✨ Technical Specifications
Oliver Zeter's 'Zafran' is a captivating exploration into the world of skin-contact white wines, commonly known as orange wines. Taking its name from the rich, golden-orange hue of saffron, this cuvée is crafted from aromatic white grape varieties that undergo extended maceration on their skins. This ancient technique, revived with modern Pfalz precision, extracts deep colors, complex phenolic structures, and intense aromatics. Fermented and aged in a combination of clay amphorae and neutral oak casks, the wine bypasses heavy filtration to preserve its raw, expressive character. It offers an intriguing sensory profile of dried apricots, orange zest, exotic spices, and a distinctive, tea-like tannic grip that challenges the traditional boundaries of German winemaking.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded in 2007 by Oliver Zeter and his family, the Oliver Zeter winery is situated in Neustadt an der Weinstraße in the sun-drenched Pfalz region of Germany. Born out of a deep-seated passion for viticulture after years in the international wine trade, the estate gained swift acclaim, symbolized by the iconic 'drinking bear' caricature sketched by artist Otto Heinrich Strohmeyer in the 1930s. Oliver Zeter embraces a modern and meticulous approach to winemaking, championing parcel-specific vinification and selective oak aging to showcase the terroir's diverse sandstone, limestone, and loess soils. The winery is particularly celebrated as a pioneer of multifaceted Sauvignon Blanc in Germany, alongside pure, expressive bottlings of Grauburgunder, Riesling, and distinctive, age-worthy red blends such as 'Z'.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Gewürztraminer