It was a tip from a Stonemason at Lincoln Cathedral, who happens to come from Bonn, that brought us to Schreiner’s door. Adolf Schreiner makes unreconstructed, old-school Ahr Spatburgunder in the teeny-weeny village of Rech. Musky, smoky, Pinot Noir reeking of Autumn.
He also specialises in “Der Kaaste” – small-berried Spatburgunder from the original cutting brought to the Ahr from Burgundy in the 1700s. Der Kaaste is a derivation of “Der Kastenholzrebe” (the wooden box grape) which refers to the wooden boxes used to transport cuttings by the nurseryman in Euskirchen, to the north of the Ahr. We also recently found out that Adeneuer’s monopole vineyard, the Walporzheimer Garkammer, is also entirely from Der Kaaste. Schreiner’s is made in the traditional style – ever-so-slightly off-dry, but definitely no sweeter than a Cali Pinot.
