Philip Lardot - Riesling Trocken "der Hirt" 2020 (12.5% ABV) 750ml

Lardot is the protege of Riesling auteur Ulli Stein. While Ulli has made a name for his classic expressions of Riesling, Lardot is the more experimental winemaker - utilizing a touch of skin contact, extended lees aging in oak vessels, not blocking malolactic fermentation, not filtering, and adding only a spritz of so2 at bottling. These techniques are very controversial in the traditional world of fine Mosel wine.

Der Hirt is sourced two parcels from a south-facing Mosel vineyard called Valwiger Herrenberg (UPDATE: This amazing vineyard was sadly uprooted in 2022, which means the 2021 der Hirt will be the final vintage, stock up on the '20s while we have a few left). The total area of these miniscule parcels is only .21 hectares! These are steep, terraced plots with ungrafted vines ranging from 30-75 years old.

This wine likely wouldn’t pass the “Mosel wine authorities;” they want everything filtered and crystal clear! So Philip has to sell it as a simple “Landwein.” The problem is that you can’t indicate the vineyard site with such a wine, so Philip has created a persona, “der Hirt” or shepherd. This is, after all, the “Herrenberg,” or, “hill of the shepherd.” A similar character was created for his other Rieslings. 

region: Mosel, Germany

varietal: Riesling

style: dry adventurous/hazy white

farming/cellar: fruit harvested in two bunches about a week apart, with the second picking given a night of skin contact, matured in 225L & 500L oak barrels for 12 months on the lees, rested another 6 months in steel before being bottled, minimal added so2, lightly filtered

pairing: