Description
Keuper and reed sandstone formations underpin the 2020 Weingut Roterfaden Württemberg Vineyard Project 002 Terraces Red, part of Olympia Samara and Hannes Hoffmann’s effort to recover historical terraces planted to mixed red varieties, many long neglected or in need of restoration. Thin soils on steep slopes require manual farming, erosion control, and careful canopy shaping, and in the consistently warm 2020 season harvest was carried out by hand in small passes to account for uneven ripening across the terraces. Fermentation proceeded with native yeasts in open vats, often with whole clusters included to examine how stem retention interacts with these mineral soils. Aging continued in older barrels to keep the wine transparent to site. Within the Vineyard Project series, 002 functions as a case study in rehabilitating historic terraces, informing longer term strategies for varietal selection, slope stabilization, and microvinification.