Hild "Rosémarie" Spatburgunder Rosé, Mosel, Germany 2025

FROM VOM BODEN:

THE WINE: 100% Pinot Noir. In the cold Obermosel Pinot Noir is still not the easiest grape to ripen and this is only the second rosé the Hilds have been able to make in years. This is salty and brisk and fresh. And the label; when I saw the photograph of proprietor Matz’s older sister Rosemarie as a 5-year-old on the label it just broke my heart. In a world of painfully hip wine labels, I am so down for a return to some basic human sentimentality.

THE PRODUCER: Matthias Hild reminds me of Randal Graham, the famous founder/winemaker of Bonny Doon, in his eclectic mix of scholar, advocate, farmer and trickster. He also sports a thinning pony tail and takes everything at his own pace and on his own terms. This strength of character likely explains some of how Hild has survived in the Obermosel making quality-minded, honest wines in a region where this is not a financially wise thing to do.

The fact that Matthias is single-handedly trying to save the old, terraced parcels of Elbling (see photo above) is a move that is equal parts romantic and completely insane. The financial realities of working these vineyards by hand while accepting their lower yields simply do not add up. This is an act of cultural preservation more than anything else. He calls the wine “Zehnkommanull” which means simply 10% — the wine always ferments bone dry and is 10% ABV or less. The few cases that I’m able to get of this wine are, to me at least, semi-sacred voices of a time long past. Sacred voices that end up on the $20-and-under table and most often overlooked. Hopefully this will change. At the very least, you’re going to hear me shouting about this place.