MARC & JAN WEINREICH

A Mix of Sun and Clouds. Not a bad title for our chapter, right? Not so much. How about: Fire and water? Genius and madness? Or even: polar extremes. Extremes that also characterize our wines.

I love outlandish ideas. Because they grow in me. Always ready for an odd turn. Provoke. Have fun with it. That’s why I was seduced so hard by the natural wine pioneers from France, Spain and Italy who have returned to producing wines full-on old-school. Full of nature. No bells or whistles. I was immediately intrigued. Possessed, in fact, by these orange wines, or whatever you want to call them. Uncompromising. Terroir-driven. With an unremitting mouthwatering appeal.

My brother Jan is a completely different bloke. Grounded. Reserved. Impartial. With values and traditions. Someone who keeps me in check. Brings me back to reality. And that’s a good thing!

I poured Jan a glass of natural wine and considered his blank eyes. It wasn’t just that he didn’t share my euphoria for each brilliant sip. He was disgusted with this nectar for nerds. My plans for creating an orange wine of my own were met with a categorical No.

But now the idea had taken root in my head. It wasn’t going anywhere. I wanted to create our own natural wine in a bottle. To glean that extra bit of special out of our organic agriculture. At this point it feels like most of the money we earn goes straight into the proceeds of fine winemakers in Jura, Roussillon and the Loire.

I understood that in order to get my brother on board, only one thing mattered: I needed to make a wine that tasted good. No philosophizing. No agenda. Plain and simple delicious. So, I kicked off the experiment in 2009. And I liked what I found from the start. Jan too. And not only that — He became the driving force that made the wine what it is. He kept me in check. Put the brakes on my urges to make our first orange more extreme. Jan gave the wine the thing that lets us love it so much today: Its chill. Its ease. Both are still there today. The kernel for Natürlich Weinreich had been planted.

Extreme. That’s what we are. These are our wines. Naturally extreme. Rich in joy and wine. Natürlich Weinreich.