Marto "Pinot Noir" Pinot Noir, Rheinhessen, Germany 2022

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THE PRODUCER: In just 3 years, this 27-year-old is the producer on everyone’s lips in Tokyo, New York, London and Paris. Martin comes from an agriculture background, his grandfather was a pioneer, a grape grower that was one of the first in their village of Flonheim to bottle wine under his own banner rather than selling the grapes to the co-op. Flonheim is located in the western part of the Rheinhessen, near the Nahe region. Martin’s father did not have much interest in the vineyards, making his livelihood instead farming strawberries. The family continued to maintain the vineyards, but until Martin took over in 2015, all the fruit was sold to the co-op. Martin works 5 hectares of vines currently, all in organic farming with some biodynamic principles applied. For his first harvest he only worked with 1 hectare, by 2017 it was 3 hectares. The focus has always been on soil health and getting that right first. He uses cover crops of radishes, beetroots and turnips throughout the vineyards, on the steeper slops it is incredibly important to assist with stopping soil erosion. Sheep are used to eat the grasses and no tilling occurs. Despite his young age, Martin sought out experience from some of the best producers. In 2015 he worked at Gut Oggau with Eduard and Stephanie Tscheppe and in 2016 at Matassa with Tom Lubbe. His time with Tom was to be the most influential and he still seeks his guidance when needed. Because harvest in the south of France is considerably earlier than Germany, it provided Martin the opportunity to do 2 harvests in 2016 with the knowledge of what he had learnt very much at the front of his mind. Tom also gifted him two old demi-muds for his first harvest. Èlevage is in old barrels, foudres and Mosel casks. All work is done by hand, all the wines are unfiltered, unfined and without any additions. Under German law, Martin is unable to put the village on label, so the rock is a nod to Flonheim and its characteristic sandstone.