{"title":"Katla Wines","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the suburbs of Mönchengladbach in the industrial Rhineland, it took leaving Germany for Jas to find her way into wine. Following her nose and picking her mentors well, Jas is now settled in Wöllstein in Rheinhessen, where she runs her micro-négoce, as well as keeping just under a hectare of vines herself. Working and studying wine at restaurants around Europe, Jas' swansong in service came at Dill in Reykjavík, the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, where she worked as a sommelier. What followed was a series of stages with producers whose wines she loved, most notably a now-retired doyen of southern Ardèche wine, Gilles Azzoni, who incidentally introduced me to Jas' wines while I myself was staging at Gilles' cellar in les Salelles. It was Gilles who impressed on Jas the possibility of producing wines without a family estate or owning vines (Gilles, himself a Parisian, did it in 1980). Inspired and encouraged, Jas took what savings she had to rent a corner of a cellar in the Mosel, and source fruit from the disparate band of growers behind the region's burgeoning viticultural enlightenment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHer first vintage was 2019, with 2,500 litres produced. It was a case of the right place at the right time for Jas. As a micro-négoce, she collaborates with growers at the epicentre of contemporary German winemaking from her base in Rheinhessen, working with varieties well-adapted to the pressures of the modern vineyard and a shifting climate. Sourcing grapes from Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and beyond, Jas applies the same subversive spirit in making her blends, deliberate in her crossing of borders, varieties, and colours, critiquing the hegemony of single-sites or noble varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"dolly-2023-litre-katla-wines","title":"Dolly 2023 (Litre Bottle) - Katla Wines","description":"\u003cp\u003eA blend of Merlot, Weissburgunder, and Riesling, each with a light maceration on skins before fermenting and ageing in stainless.\u003cbr\u003eHere we find all the small red berries, currants, wild strawberries, and a verdant, chlorophyllic, herbaceousness. Light and nimble, but with good volume on the palate, and a gentle brush of tannins.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the suburbs of Mönchengladbach in the industrial Rhineland, it took leaving Germany for Jas to find her way into wine. Following her nose and picking her mentors well, Jas is now settled in Wöllstein in Rheinhessen, where she runs her micro-négoce, as well as keeping just under a hectare of vines herself. Working and studying wine at restaurants around Europe, Jas' swansong in service came at Dill in Reykjavík, the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, where she worked as a sommelier. What followed was a series of stages with producers whose wines she loved, most notably a now-retired doyen of southern Ardèche wine, Gilles Azzoni, who incidentally introduced me to Jas' wines while I myself was staging at Gilles' cellar in les Salelles. It was Gilles who impressed on Jas the possibility of producing wines without a family estate or owning vines (Gilles, himself a Parisian, did it in 1980). Inspired and encouraged, Jas took what savings she had to rent a corner of a cellar in the Mosel, and source fruit from the disparate band of growers behind the region's burgeoning viticultural enlightenment.\u003cbr\u003eHer first vintage was 2019, with 2,500 litres produced. It was a case of the right place at the right time for Jas. As a micro-négoce, she collaborates with growers at the epicentre of contemporary German winemaking from her base in Rheinhessen, working with varieties well-adapted to the pressures of the modern vineyard and a shifting climate. Sourcing grapes from Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and beyond, Jas applies the same subversive spirit in making her blends, deliberate in her crossing of borders, varieties, and colours, critiquing the hegemony of single-sites or noble varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA blend of fruit from two neighbouring regions, Dolly is a Deutscher Wein. The Merlot and Weissburgunder come from Rheinhessen, the biggest wine region in the country by volume and landmass, a wide limestone and loess plateau south of the Rhine. The fruit is sourced from Andi Mann in Eckelsheim and Niklas Rückrich respectively, two of the region's most respected young producers. The Riesling comes from Christine Pieroth of Piri Naturel in the Nahe, a valley tucked neatly between Rheinhessen and the Mosel. There's plenty of diversity in the soils here, with patches of volcanic, slate, sandstone and clay soils side by side. Nahe Riesling often casts an edgier silhouette than elsewhere, especially when wood has not been used at the cellar, as we find here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Merlot, Weissburgunder, Riesling\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Rheinhessen, Germany\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katla Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702744914,"sku":"25\/000085","price":34.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_8b4a19a1-3816-4bc2-8c07-962cec6a3516.jpg?v=1791451415"},{"product_id":"doris-2023-litre-katla-wines","title":"Doris 2023 (Litre Bottle) - Katla Wines","description":"\u003cp\u003eDornfelder and Riesling that go straight to the press, so no skin contact. Fermentation and ageing in stainless steel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDornfelder and Riesling that go straight to the press, so no skin contact. Fermentation and ageing in stainless steel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the suburbs of Mönchengladbach in the industrial Rhineland, it took leaving Germany for Jas to find her way into wine. Following her nose and picking her mentors well, Jas is now settled in Wöllstein in Rheinhessen, where she runs her micro-négoce, as well as keeping just under a hectare of vines herself. Working and studying wine at restaurants around Europe, Jas' swansong in service came at Dill in Reykjavík, the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, where she worked as a sommelier. What followed was a series of stages with producers whose wines she loved, most notably a now-retired doyen of southern Ardèche wine, Gilles Azzoni, who incidentally introduced me to Jas' wines while I myself was staging at Gilles' cellar in les Salelles. It was Gilles who impressed on Jas the possibility of producing wines without a family estate or owning vines (Gilles, himself a Parisian, did it in 1980). Inspired and encouraged, Jas took what savings she had to rent a corner of a cellar in the Mosel, and source fruit from the disparate band of growers behind the region's burgeoning viticultural enlightenment.\u003cbr\u003eHer first vintage was 2019, with 2,500 litres produced. It was a case of the right place at the right time for Jas. As a micro-négoce, she collaborates with growers at the epicentre of contemporary German winemaking from her base in Rheinhessen, working with varieties well-adapted to the pressures of the modern vineyard and a shifting climate. Sourcing grapes from Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and beyond, Jas applies the same subversive spirit in making her blends, deliberate in her crossing of borders, varieties, and colours, critiquing the hegemony of single-sites or noble varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith fruit from Rheinhessen and Nahe, this is classified Deutscher Wein. The Dornfelder is from Niklas Rückrich in Eckelsheim, growing on limestone and loess at heart of Rheinhessen. Germany's largest region by both area and volume, it's long been associated with bulk production. These days Niklas and his contemporaries have elevated the region's status, with the digestibility and substance of their wines sought after by sommeliers and cavistes from Copenhagen to Seoul. Dornfelder is a German crossing developed in the 1950s, giving deep-coloured wines with firm tannins. Here, the direct-pressed juice gives us something lighter and fruit-driven, capturing the variety's fruitiness, while leaving the weight behind. The Riesling comes from Christine Pieroth of Piri Naturel in Nahe, a valley nestled between Rheinhessen and the Mosel. Its remarkable geological diversity, with volcanic, slate, sandstone and clay soils enmeshed and overlapping, gives Riesling a racy precision, bringing lift and structure to this blend.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Dornfelder, Riesling\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Rheinhessen, Germany\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katla Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702810450,"sku":"24\/000816","price":34.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-doris-2023-litre.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"douze-points-2023-litre-katla-wines","title":"Douze Points 2023 (Litre Bottle) - Katla Wines","description":"\u003cp\u003eCabernet Dorsa from Jas Swan's friend Andi Mann in Rheinhessen. Five days of semi-carbonic maceration, followed by fermentation and ageing in a stainless steel tank.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe deeper colour here belies this effortless drinkability of the wine itself, with juicy plum and ripe sloe berry spice, and a thread of acidity that sharpens the tone. Light at just 10%, this is a great apero or lunch wine, and is best served chilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the suburbs of Mönchengladbach in the industrial Rhineland, it took leaving Germany for Jas to find her way into wine. Following her nose and picking her mentors well, Jas is now settled in Wöllstein in Rheinhessen, where she runs her micro-négoce, as well as keeping just under a hectare of vines herself. Working and studying wine at restaurants around Europe, Jas' swansong in service came at Dill in Reykjavík, the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, where she worked as a sommelier. What followed was a series of stages with producers whose wines she loved, most notably a now-retired doyen of southern Ardèche wine, Gilles Azzoni, who incidentally introduced me to Jas' wines while I myself was staging at Gilles' cellar in les Salelles. It was Gilles who impressed on Jas the possibility of producing wines without a family estate or owning vines (Gilles, himself a Parisian, did it in 1980). Inspired and encouraged, Jas took what savings she had to rent a corner of a cellar in the Mosel, and source fruit from the disparate band of growers behind the region's burgeoning viticultural enlightenment.\u003cbr\u003eHer first vintage was 2019, with 2,500 litres produced. It was a case of the right place at the right time for Jas. As a micro-négoce, she collaborates with growers at the epicentre of contemporary German winemaking from her base in Rheinhessen, working with varieties well-adapted to the pressures of the modern vineyard and a shifting climate. Sourcing grapes from Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and beyond, Jas applies the same subversive spirit in making her blends, deliberate in her crossing of borders, varieties, and colours, critiquing the hegemony of single-sites or noble varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBred almost 20 years after Dornfelder at the same institute in Wurttemberg, Cabernet Dorsa is a more obscure graduate from Germany's postwar ampelographic research, aiming to produce varieties that could ripen and colour in the cooler northern climate. Originally recorded as a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Dornfelder (hence the name), we now know it's a cross of Blaufrankisch and Dornfelder. Given this parentage, it's no surprise that the variety produces inky, robust reds. Its frost hardiness makes it a useful tool for growers since they were permitted to plant it commercially in 2003, but with under 500 hectares in total planted, it remains on the extreme fringes of German viticulture. To find it in a single varietal bottling, as we do here, is exceptionally rare.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Cabernet Dorsa\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Rheinhessen, Germany\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katla Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988702908754,"sku":"24\/000815","price":34.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_e542293f-e2a7-46df-96ee-3d52c1d81387.jpg?v=1791451417"},{"product_id":"alison-2024-katla-wines","title":"Alison 2024 - Katla Wines","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe typical qualities of Pfalz Pinot, with vibrant fruit and heady notes of leaf and earth rounded out by time in wood. Best lightly chilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e roast chicken with mushrooms, or a plate of charcuterie.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePinot Noir from Lukas Krauss in Pfalz. A three-week maceration before ageing in two old barriques, with just 800 bottles produced.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the suburbs of Mönchengladbach in the industrial Rhineland, it took leaving Germany for Jas to find her way into wine. Following her nose and picking her mentors well, Jas is now settled in Wöllstein in Rheinhessen, where she runs her micro-négoce, as well as keeping just under a hectare of vines herself. Working and studying wine at restaurants around Europe, Jas' swansong in service came at Dill in Reykjavík, the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, where she worked as a sommelier. What followed was a series of stages with producers whose wines she loved, most notably a now-retired doyen of southern Ardèche wine, Gilles Azzoni, who incidentally introduced me to Jas' wines while I myself was staging at Gilles' cellar in les Salelles. It was Gilles who impressed on Jas the possibility of producing wines without a family estate or owning vines (Gilles, himself a Parisian, did it in 1980). Inspired and encouraged, Jas took what savings she had to rent a corner of a cellar in the Mosel, and source fruit from the disparate band of growers behind the region's burgeoning viticultural enlightenment.\u003cbr\u003eHer first vintage was 2019, with 2,500 litres produced. It was a case of the right place at the right time for Jas. As a micro-négoce, she collaborates with growers at the epicentre of contemporary German winemaking from her base in Rheinhessen, working with varieties well-adapted to the pressures of the modern vineyard and a shifting climate. Sourcing grapes from Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and beyond, Jas applies the same subversive spirit in making her blends, deliberate in her crossing of borders, varieties, and colours, critiquing the hegemony of single-sites or noble varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Pinot Noir for this wine was sourced from Lukas Krauss' vineyards in Pfalz. Pfalz runs south along the eastern flank of the Haardt Mountains, themselves an extension of the Alsatian Vosges, protecting the region from rain and blessing the region with long, dry summers, helping Pinot to reach phenolic ripeness with enviable reliability. Lukas is in low-lying Lambsheim, where the mixture of loess and clay imbues the variety with the distinctive telluric timbre we find here, a testament to Lukas' work in the vines. Jas leans into the natural strengths of her raw materials here, with a long maceration (by her standards) extracting the density of the fruit, and the ageing in old wood bringing roundness and balance. A wine of sous-bois grace.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Pinot Noir\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Lambsheim, Pfalz, Germany\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katla Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988706414930,"sku":"17002100","price":37.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-alison-2024.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"helja-2024-katla-wines","title":"Helja 2024 - Katla Wines","description":"\u003cp\u003eGolden yellow in colour. Great intensity on the nose despite the lighter measure of alcohol(10.5%). Notes of mint, yuzu, white flowers and toasted wheat. Easy, and with a refreshing acidity, quite delicious!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the suburbs of Mönchengladbach in the industrial Rhineland, it took leaving Germany for Jas to find her way into wine. Following her nose and picking her mentors well, Jas is now settled in Wöllstein in Rheinhessen, where she runs her micro-négoce, as well as keeping just under a hectare of vines herself. Working and studying wine at restaurants around Europe, Jas' swansong in service came at Dill in Reykjavík, the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, where she worked as a sommelier. What followed was a series of stages with producers whose wines she loved, most notably a now-retired doyen of southern Ardèche wine, Gilles Azzoni, who incidentally introduced me to Jas' wines while I myself was staging at Gilles' cellar in les Salelles. It was Gilles who impressed on Jas the possibility of producing wines without a family estate or owning vines (Gilles, himself a Parisian, did it in 1980). Inspired and encouraged, Jas took what savings she had to rent a corner of a cellar in the Mosel, and source fruit from the disparate band of growers behind the region's burgeoning viticultural enlightenment.\u003cbr\u003eHer first vintage was 2019, with 2,500 litres produced. It was a case of the right place at the right time for Jas. As a micro-négoce, she collaborates with growers at the epicentre of contemporary German winemaking from her base in Rheinhessen, working with varieties well-adapted to the pressures of the modern vineyard and a shifting climate. Sourcing grapes from Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and beyond, Jas applies the same subversive spirit in making her blends, deliberate in her crossing of borders, varieties, and colours, critiquing the hegemony of single-sites or noble varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Riesling comes from highly respected grower Christine Pieroth of Piri Naturel, based in Burg Layen in the lower Nahe valley. Protected by the Hunsrück hills, this pocket of Nahe enjoys a warm, dry microclimate. Christine's estate is a microcosm of wider Nahe, with fragmented geology that includes slate, loam, and quartz, three of the 180 distinct soil types in the region. With her family having farmed this estate for almost 250 years, few understand the intricacies of these soils like Christine, and Jas' deft approach in the cellar allows the quality of her friend's farming to shine in this wine. This Riesling, while thrillingly unique, shows the hallmarks of Nahe Riesling, with its moderate alcohol and architecture of fleshy fruit and beaming acidity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Riesling\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Rheinhessen, Germany\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katla Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988708872530,"sku":"17002115","price":31.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-helja-2024.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"queendom-2024-katla-wines","title":"Queendom 2024 - Katla Wines","description":"\u003cp\u003eA blend of Regent, Pinot Gris, and Riesling. Jas vinified all three separately. The Regent and Pinot Gris both saw short, semi-carbonic maceration. The Riesling went straight to the press, burnishing the blend. All fermented and aged in stainless. We find the characteristic sylvan expression of the Regent, mineral density and texture from the Pinot Gris, and the flexure of the direct press Riesling. Just 1,600 bottles produced, with the label designed by Moonla Boucané, winner of the Bordeaux Drag Games.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginally from the suburbs of Mönchengladbach in the industrial Rhineland, it took leaving Germany for Jas to find her way into wine. Following her nose and picking her mentors well, Jas is now settled in Wöllstein in Rheinhessen, where she runs her micro-négoce, as well as keeping just under a hectare of vines herself. Working and studying wine at restaurants around Europe, Jas' swansong in service came at Dill in Reykjavík, the first restaurant in Iceland to win a Michelin star, where she worked as a sommelier. What followed was a series of stages with producers whose wines she loved, most notably a now-retired doyen of southern Ardèche wine, Gilles Azzoni, who incidentally introduced me to Jas' wines while I myself was staging at Gilles' cellar in les Salelles. It was Gilles who impressed on Jas the possibility of producing wines without a family estate or owning vines (Gilles, himself a Parisian, did it in 1980). Inspired and encouraged, Jas took what savings she had to rent a corner of a cellar in the Mosel, and source fruit from the disparate band of growers behind the region's burgeoning viticultural enlightenment.\u003cbr\u003eHer first vintage was 2019, with 2,500 litres produced. It was a case of the right place at the right time for Jas. As a micro-négoce, she collaborates with growers at the epicentre of contemporary German winemaking from her base in Rheinhessen, working with varieties well-adapted to the pressures of the modern vineyard and a shifting climate. Sourcing grapes from Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and beyond, Jas applies the same subversive spirit in making her blends, deliberate in her crossing of borders, varieties, and colours, critiquing the hegemony of single-sites or noble varieties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Regent and Riesling come from Christine Pieroth of Piri Naturel, based in Burg Layen in the lower Nahe valley. Protected by the Hunsrück hills, this pocket of Nahe enjoys a warm, dry microclimate. Christine's estate is a microcosm of wider Nahe, with fragmented geology that includes slate, loam, and quartz, three of the 180 distinct soil types in the region. With her family having farmed this estate for almost 250 years, few understand the intricacies of these soils like Christine, and Jas' deft approach in the cellar allows the quality of her friend's farming to shine in this wine. The Pinot Gris comes from Andi Mann in Eckelsheim, in the southwest of Rheinhessen, where his family has farmed since 1699. Growing on limestone, this Pinot Gris brings texture and mineral depth to the wine. A quick note on the Regent: it was bred in the 1990s in southern Pfalz and has been permitted for commercial cultivation since 1996. It produces bold wines that certainly have a German feel, with plenty of pine-wood, mossy, cacao, and dark fruit character, and it's also a teinturier, with its red flesh yielding particularly pigmented juice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Regent, Riesling, Pinot Gris\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Rheinhessen, Germany\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katla Wines","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988711985490,"sku":"17002110","price":30.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/queendom-2024-katla-wines.webp?v=1791452551"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/collections\/katla-wines--i15.jpg?v=1793700415","url":"https:\/\/www.brianswines.ie\/collections\/katla-wines.oembed","provider":"Brian's Wines","version":"1.0","type":"link"}