Bianka + Daniel Schmitt ‘FREIHEIT’ Riesling 2023 | Rheinhessen, Germany

Lively, almost funky, with striking fruit. When freshly opened, it smells exotic of passion fruit, pineapple, but also gooseberries and ripe yellow pears.

Bianka and Daniel took over the Weingut Schmitt in 2012 as the fourth generation to lead the winery. They are based in Wonnegau in the south Rheinhessen, centered in Flörsheim-Dalsheim. All of the vineyards are in Flörsheim-Dalsheim and neighbour villages Monsheim and Kriegsheim. Bianka and Daniel have been working their 16 hectares biodynamically for over a decade and are one of only 80 producers in Germany to be Demeter certified. 

The Freiheit Riesling is a real surprise. Amidst countless conventional winegrowers in the hilly region of Rheinhessen, Bianka and Daniel Schmitt have taken a different path. The grapes were picked and selected by hand, the must was brought into the barrel immediately after pressing and left there to fend for itself. It was bottled unsulfured and unfiltered.