Pinot Noir "Blanc de Noir"

Sophie Kreuter makes her wines in Schaffhausen, the small German-speaking Swiss canton so devoted to Pinot Noir that locals simply call it Blauburgunderland. Her vines sit on a quarter hectare plot of roughly forty-year-old Pinot Noir, grown on the chalky, limestone-rich soils that define the region and give its wines their characteristic elegance and structure.

For this cuvée, Sophie takes an unusual route with her red grape. Rather than macerating on the skins, the Pinot Noir is pressed directly as if it were a white variety, extracting colour and texture without the tannic grip of a typical red. The wine then ages in barrel, a choice that builds body and rounds out the texture, before bottling without excessive intervention.

The result is a genuine blanc de noir, pale gold with the faintest blush of pink, carrying intense notes of white fruit alongside a soft, milky roundness that barrel ageing brings. A fresh, lively finish keeps the whole thing balanced rather than heavy. It sits at an interesting crossroads between red wine winemaking and white wine drinking pleasure, an inventive, thoughtful bottle from one of Schaffhausen's more curious natural winemakers.