Ben says

★★ Great Wine “Topped with a bright green and deep black screwcap and a label that looks like a geologist tripped over charcoal, this biodynamic white wine peaked my curiosity. The nose is lychee, green mango, Granny Smith apples, lemongrass and candied lime. There’s petrichor and maturity – I keep forgetting even 2019 was 3 years ago now. Medium bodied and fresh as a whistle with packs of lime sherbet, bittersweet apple skins, white peach, and herby hues over a waxy textured palate. More maturity on the finish with some kernel, lees notes. Serve it lightly chilled and it goes down a little too easily. Great!”

Ben Franks 2 Star Rating for Pfluger Cuvee Biodynamite White Wine

KEY POINTS

80% Riesling and 20% Gewurztraminer cuvée with 12.0% abv, made by winemaker Alex Pflüger, who is a certified biodynamic and organic grower. Demeter certified. Wild fermentation, short skin contact, and matured in stainless steel vessels.

Grown in: Bad Durkheim village, Rhine Valley, Pfalz, GERMANY.

Food Pairing

This wine goes very well with picnic pastries (sausage rolls, pasties, quiche and so on), but it’s freshness makes it stand out with Asian soups (ramens, hot and sour soup, even a Thai green curry).

When I first enjoyed this wine from Pfluger, I had it with a meze of different dried Indian curry dishes – spiced greens, paneer baked with cumin, honey and cayenee, tandoori spiced broccoli, and some potatoes fried with spices, spring onions and coriander. It paired with everything very well – but it did need to be only lightly chilled, edging dangerously close to room temperature. I’m used to the accentuated acidity drinking wine like that, but the match would struggle a bit more at a colder serve (should you want to off set acidity).

Disclosure & Price

I bought this from Woodthorpe Wines at a food festival in Bath, and to be honest I’ve liked everything from this retailer. The retail price is £22, but I think I got a small discount on the day.

Reviewed and tasted: 1 November 2022

Ben Franks Wine Tasting Note Producer Profile

About the Producer

Alex Pflüger is the current generation winemaker and grower at his family’s namesake estate, which he took over in 2010. They have 30 hectares in the Pfalz near the village of Bad Durkheim, which has doubled in size since the 1970s. The first organic vintage was 1985 and today they are demeter certified biodynamic. Alex is a terroir-focused winemaker, believing in minimal intervention to best reflect the vintage and land’s story. His vines are south west of the Rhine valley in a low rainfall region, ideal for managing disease pressure as an organic producer, and ensuring ripeness in almost all years. The wines are wildly fermented and enjoy a small amount of skin contact, otherwise they are all aged in stainless steel only.