Weingut unterlind, Trittenheim
This introduction to Unterlind could be called, “Yet Another Instance of Serendipity”. Researching and discovering new winegrowers is a big part of what we do, but it’s somehow even more exciting and meaningful when the universe itself seems intent on connecting us with talented people.
One afternoon during the spring of '24, I had a few spare moments between appointments in the Mosel and stopped into Bernkastel’s Rieslinghaus to buy some wine for my hotel room. Amidst the intimidating selection of schlegelflasche, my eyes immediately fell upon a small collection of stubby brown bottles sealed with bright yellow wax, the labels etched directly into the glass. Outside of presenting one’s wine in rabbit skins or Lincoln lanterns, it would be difficult for a German Riesling producer to have more conspicuous bottles. The producer appeared to be called “Unterlind” and the vineyard holdings had me salivating—Brauneberger Juffer and Juffer-Sonnenuhr; Trittenheimer Apotheke; Leiwener Laurentiuslay; legends all, and the latter two seriously underappreciated.
After some moments and with evident reluctance, an employee shuffled away from a tasting at the back of the shop to ask if I had any questions.
“What can you tell me about Unterlind?” I queried, only to be told that I had eminently good timing. One of the Unterlind winemakers was presently pouring samples for the Rieslinghaus team and I was cordially invited to join the fun. I was led to the tasting table where the winemaker in question looked up from pouring a round of samples, smiling at me in recognition.
“Hi Veronika,” I said as I happily received a glass of Apotheke Kabinett, now more curious than ever as to what the hell was going on!
Veronika Lintner and her life-partner, Heiner Böllig, quietly initiated their Unterlind project with the 2020 vintage. The former is originally from Austria’s Tyrolean mountains, “Unterlind” being the name of the idyllic farm where she grew up. Heiner is a native of Trittenheim, a village just south of Piesport where the Mosel arcs into a picturesque oxbow, carving out some excellent, precipitous vineyards in its course. Heiner’s family owns and farmed 5 hectares of vines in the surrounding area, but as his father aged he wanted to incrementally downsize his holdings and responsibilities. Mosel vineyards can be some of the most arduous and intimidating agricultural land on the planet, and I can only imagine how the challenges mount as one gets on in years. Heiner and Veronika stepped up and adopted just under two hectares of mostly old vines scattered throughout various sites, commandeering a corner of the family winery to bring their wines to fruition.
The Unterlind “recipe” is simple and minimalist. The farming is meticulous and they’re transitioning towards organics (a pursuit that had to be put on hold during the challenging 2024 growing season). Whole-cluster Riesling is delicately pressed and fermented with ambient yeasts in stainless steel, and at the moment, their entire production is of prädikatswein harbouring modest amounts of residual sugar. Despite the indelibly winsome nature of these wines, this is still very much a side-project for the couple. Straight out of the gates they’re making some of the best Rieslings in Germany and absolutely deserve an esteemed reputation based on this alone, but it’s difficult to discuss Unterlind without mentioning Veronika and Heiner’s day jobs.
In 2014, Veronika took a sabbatical from her career as a sommelier in Austria and accepted an internship at Egon Müller-Scharzhof in the Saar. At the termination of her stage, Herr Müller asked her to stay on full time as his sales manager, a post that she’s held ever since. In the meantime, and after working at Scharzhof for almost a decade, Heiner was appointed as Müller’s vineyard manager in 2018 and eventually added cellarmaster to his responsibilities at the estate.
I first met Veronika in 2015 when she was kind enough to cordially receive me for a tasting at Scharzhof—a visit that I’ve repeated many times since, thanks to her inexplicable but continued patience with a Riesling-obsessed Canadian weirdo and whatever misfits I happen to have in tow. Given her diplomacy, the discussion of Müller’s current vintage was never superseded by a mention of the Unterlind project, so I’m grateful to have literally stumbled upon her wines (and her!) at Rieslinghaus.
You probably don’t need me to paint you a picture as to what’s going on here… But I’m going to anyway. Unterlind is Scharzhof’s de facto vineyard manager/winemaker and sales manager farming and making wine from Grand Cru vineyards (some of them criminally unsung) in the Mittelmosel on a small enough scale that the two of them can do absolutely everything themselves. While they’re not giving the wines away, they cost a fraction of the price of Müller’s, and they’re exhilarating, original representatives of truly fascinating terroirs.
Oh, and those cute, stubby bottles? Veronika and Heiner don’t mind that they help their wines stand out in a crowd (as they did for me), but they’re a nod to their home vineyard of Apotheke, or “apothecary”. The wine inside of them is the most glorious of medicine.
