A visit to Ziereisen is a memorable and very moving experience. The cool and calming influence of Edel Ziereisen is often tested by the fasttalking and break-neck mental speed of her energetic and excitable husband, Hanspeter, who gives the impression he sleeps only 5 hours per night. The vineyards here, in the very bottom left corner of Germany, are rooted in limestone and (at 270-550mt) look down on Alsace, Jura and the Swiss regions around Basel. Although he is always in a rush when speaking, he never rushes his wines. Whether it be the judicious fullbunch stem/skin macerations, the 20-hour press cycles (with stems) for whites or the 2 or 3-year large-old-barrel ageing that many wines receive; his wines are given what they deserve. Add to all of this his penchant for naturalness (organic viticulture, minimal or no use of SO2, natural ferments, long lees-ageing, minimal filtration and fining, minimal use of stainless steel and heavy reliance on old / neutral oak vessels) and we begin to scratch the surface of the unique Ziereisen philosophy.