DROP 33
Drop 33 – I am wachting You!
With Carsten Saalwächter, Petit Roy & Maison Glandien
Three wines. Three grape varieties. Germany meets Burgundy. And every single one makes you look twice.
Drop 33 is all about wines that challenge what you think you already know.
Carsten Saalwächter takes Silvaner and pushes it into completely different territory. I’ve tasted his Grauer Stein blind before and genuinely thought I had serious white Burgundy in my glass. Old vines, limestone, long élevage and an insane amount of tension – this is Silvaner on another level.
Then there’s Seiichi Saito of Petit Roy. I’ve been following Seiichi for years, and what excites me most is watching his wines continue to evolve. His style has become increasingly precise, energetic and unmistakably his own. Les Combottes 2023 is exactly that: Burgundy with depth, but without heaviness.
And finally, Tino Kuban and Maison Glandien. While everyone is chasing Chardonnay, Tino gives Aligoté exactly the same attention and ambition. La Moiré comes from a tiny parcel in Cheilly-lès-Maranges and shows just how serious this grape can become when you stop treating it like Burgundy’s little brother.
The common thread? Tension, precision and wines that completely overdeliver on what you expect from the grape.
Keep watching.
Inside the box
Silvaner Grauer Stein 2023 – Carsten Saalwächter, Ingelheim, Rheinhessen
Forget everything you thought you knew about Silvaner.
The Grauer Stein comes from a small parcel of old vines growing on barren grey limestone in Ingelheim. The 2023 spent almost two years in large wooden barrels before bottling.
Subtle reduction, crushed limestone, quince and yellow apple. On the palate, there is serious concentration, beautiful acidity and a fine phenolic grip, finishing incredibly long, salty and almost electric.
Powerful without being heavy. Complex without trying too hard.
This isn’t just great Silvaner. This is seriously great white wine. Period.
Drinking recommendation: Give it plenty of air now – or forget a few bottles in the cellar.
Pernand-Vergelesses “Les Combottes” 2023 – Petit Roy, Burgundy
Some winemakers just keep you coming back for more. Seiichi Saito is one of them.
Les Combottes comes from a tiny Chardonnay parcel on a southwest-facing slope in Pernand-Vergelesses, with limestone-rich soils bringing natural freshness and tension.
The 2023 combines vibrant citrus and delicate white fruit with subtle reduction and a beautiful mineral backbone. There is real depth here, but everything stays incredibly fresh, precise and elegant.
It is one of those wines that keeps changing in the glass. Give it time, and it just keeps revealing more.
Drinking recommendation: Beautiful now with some air, but absolutely no rush.
La Moiré 2024 – Maison Glandien, Cheilly-lès-Maranges, Burgundy
Aligoté with much bigger ambitions.
La Moiré comes from vines planted in 1991 in a northwest-facing vineyard in Cheilly-lès-Maranges, growing on shallow limestone and clay soils. Only four barrels were produced in 2024, with 50% new oak.
There is a beautiful reductive edge at first, followed by lime, grapefruit and delicate white fruit. The élevage gives it depth and texture, while the naturally fresh site keeps everything razor sharp, mineral and incredibly alive.
What I love most is that this wine doesn’t try to imitate Chardonnay. It doesn’t need to.
This is Aligoté with its own identity, serious precision and a long, salty finish that makes you immediately reach for another glass.
Drinking recommendation: Give it air and a proper Burgundy glass. Now or over the next few years.