Black Betty is our light red. Named after the first sheep born in our vineyards the blend changed over time as Betty grew up and older. Domina – a crossing of Blauer Portugieser and Spätburgunder – and Regent – a hybrid crossing of Diana (Müller-Thurgau x Silvaner) and Chambourcin – define this blend. We press the Regent bunches directly and pour it over the Domina bunches picked shortly after for just a touch of color and tannin extraction before pressing a few days later. The wines age in big old oak barrels before they get racked the following summer and blended with a small but noticeable batch of carbonic Spätburgunder making an incredibly juicy, glou-glou-style wine.

2Naturkinder

Micheal Voelker and Melanie Drese spent many years working in other fields, traveling the world and living in Heidelberg, Regensburg, London, and New York. In 2013 they returned to begin taking over Michael’s father’s winery in Kitzingen in Franconia, Bavarian Germany. Michael’s father is a long-time winemaker, who in fact sits on the quality control board for the appellation, but has been very supportive of Michael’s desire to make wine without additives. They began to make natural wines under the 2naturkinder label as a side project for the winery, and since then have decided to fully expand the project to take over all of the winery’s production. Michael has a particular interest in bats in the vineyard, and a few of the labels are inspired by them. He obtains bat guano from a local nature conservancy, which he uses when fertilizer is required. He is also sponsoring a research project to fund the role of bats in the vineyard.