Weingut Schnaitmann, Lämmler Spätburgunder VDP Grosses Gewächs, 2018

Rainer Schnaitmann makes low intervention wines in Fellbach near Stuttgart. He is one of those winemakers who (alongside his mentor Clemens Busch) is revered in his homeland, but less well-known outside. His style is distinctively ‘Schwäbisch’, with balanced extraction and extensive use of large old oak foudres. He tells me that he loves to focus on the earthiness and juice of his fruit, rather than producing a red Burgundy lookalike. Whilst his Spätburgunder and Grauburgunder are outstanding, coaxing the very best out of the solar 2018 vintage, it’s always his treatment of the oft-underrated Lemberger (Blaufränkisch) that ravishes.