Enderle + Moll
“Müller” 2018
Wine Info
Region: Baden, Germany
Grapes: Müller-Thurgau 100%
ABV: 12%
Winemaker: Sven Enderle & Florian Moll
Viticulture: Organic
Winemaking: Natural yeast fermentation, 4-6 day skin contact
“Uniting all these fun floral and tropical notes is that first, brisk, tart sip”
Aromatic whites are the most difficult thing to convince people to taste. Everyone thinks that because a wine has some floral character, or has notes of tropical fruit, that the wine is a dessert wine. But no. That’s not the case. Some wines smell one way and taste totally different. Case in point, this Müller-Thurgau.
No one writes books about Müller-Thurgau. Most of the time it makes wines for drunk German tourists to enjoy when they visit northern Italy. Or for drunk Italian tourists to enjoy when they go hiking in the Germanic Alto-Adige region, where it also grows.
The point is, Müller-Thurgau doesn’t get much credit. But it turns out that when talented winemakers get ahold of decent grapes, magic can happen. Sven & Florian of Enderle & Moll are artists with grapes like Pinot Noir and Auxerrois, and they’ve struck gold again here.
Enderle & Moll are based in Baden, a region in southern-central Germany known for its sunny weather, wine tourism and excellent dry wines. In fact their main gig is making Pinot Noir, aka Spätburgunder. This Müller-Thurgau is really their side project, but what a great side project it is.
Müller-Thurgau is a crossing of two grapes. A grape crossing is what happens when you cross-pollinate two varieties of the same species. In this case vitis vinifera is the species that all great grapes come from. The two varieties being crossed here are Riesling and an obscure grape called Madeline Royale. Both are aromatic varieties, which is why this wine is so expressive.
Put this wine in a glass. Lift your nose to it. Wow. Flowers of every kind. Marigold, rose, orange blossom. And then there’s the tropical fruit: guava, sugarloaf pineapple, and passion fruit. Uniting all these fun floral and tropical notes is that first, brisk, tart sip. Fresh acidity and a strange but welcome peach-pit bitterness. Also notice a fuzzy, mouth-coating texture, the result of skin contact during fermentation.
suggested pairings.
Thai Curry
If you’re like me, you make every meal from scratch, every day. Oh wait. No, I don’t do that. And I wouldn’t expect you to, either. But green, red, or panang curry is a killer pairing with this Müller-Thurgau’s subdued alcohol and spicy aromatics.If you want to make your own, Food and Wine has a cool guide to making green curry. Otherwise, if you’re like me you’ll hit up Manao in Seattle and bring curry and noodles home to crush with some german wine.
Cold Soba Noodles
When you have a brisk, fresh white wine, sometimes a chilled noodle dish hits all the right notes. Especially when there’s lots of fresh vegetables in it too. Try this chilled soba dish with fresh pea and carrot! Much gets made of flavor to flavor pairing, and body to body pairing for food and wine. But sometimes temperature pairing is the real deal.
“Lovely Day” -José James
You want something lively, soulful, and not too serious, just like this wine? We’ve been following José James for a while, and we love his vibe. He just released an album of covers, and his take on Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” is pure, sexy, flashy groove. Crank it up and drink some Müller-Thurgau!
Learn with the Circle
Join us on Youtube as we discuss the nuances of this wine and all the fun things that make it unique.
- Jackson