Dipping Into PiWi Wines

Looking at Johanniter vine at Saalhof, Wognum, Netherlands

Modern gene editing procedures have allowed the undesirable attributes of non-vinifera species such as the “foxy” flavours from the American Vitis Labrusca or Vitis Riparia to be mitigated while obtaining the disease resistant benefits and still retaining the essential character of Vitis Vinifera. The new varieties produced from the 90s by the German programme including Rondo, Johanniter, Saphira and many others are all registered as Vitis Vinifera. In 2019 UC Davis released five new varieties resistant to the bacteria borne Pierce’s Disease, and even France, which banned propagation of most non-vinifera grapes in 1935 recently released two new whites: Floreal and Voltis and two new reds: Vidoc and Artaban.

PiWi research and development has steadily proliferated and gained fresh impetus in 2021 when the EU formally allowed member states to include these in appellation wines. This decision was a response to the challenges of climate change and the need for the wine industry in Europe to become more sustainable, with reduction in agrochemical use a primary motivation. However significant obstacles remain before the intention is realised. Member state and regional authority approval is required before PiWis can be incorporated into local PDO regulations but often fierce rivalry between different institutes results in parochial “not made here” opposition.

This opposition will not slow PiWi development. The wine industry has always had innovators prepared to work outside the system. I came across many anecdotal examples in my online wine magazines.

That might have been the end of my research but in life it is funny how one small event – in this case the mention of an unfamiliar research topic - leads coincidentally to something else. For reasons completely unrelated to wine, I was on the very long-haul plane trip to Amsterdam this week to visit an old friend who explained that he lives right next to a vineyard in the North Holland town of Wognum. A visit to this vineyard and winery called Wijngaard Saalhof, ranks number one in the things to do in Wognum on Trip Advisor, and it just so happens that four of the five grape varieties it grows are PiWis! Clearly a visit to Saalhof was a must!

Saalhof is a full-blown agro-tourism venture with a great story. In addition to the vineyard, it boasts a popular restaurant and various accommodation options in an attractive and tranquil setting. I met Siem Loos and his wife Ada, the owners and founders on Friday 20 July 2025 to heartheir story, tour the winemaking facilities and taste the wines. Siem explained that while he has always enjoyed wine it was the serene and peaceful atmosphere of the vineyards he and his wife had visited in France that was the main attraction. His first vines were planted in 1975 on property he had adjacent to his painting business – these were of the Rembrandt variety – a table grape, not a wine grape. He planted 150 vines initially, only to discover both by advice and his own experience as he first read about winemaking and then attempted it, that these grapes were unsuitable for winemaking. Shortly after he read about a German vineyard owner who has the PiWi variety Rondo, so he obtained and planted some of these vines and eventually made a drinkable wine. Rondo was easy to grow, had an attractive dark ruby colour,  but also had somewhat rustic, unusual flavours.

Interviewing Siem at Saalhof

He continued to refine his skills as a winemaker by a combination of internet research, practical experience and laboratory analysis and advice. Two of the most important lessons he recounts were managing the temperature of the ferment and yeast selection.  Still, at this stage of his life, winemaking was to use the modern phrase, no more than a “side-gig”. The hiatus came when on turning 50, he decided to take his wife and children on a walking adventure all the way to Spain. All along the way they stayed in vineyards, typically in the picker accommodation, pondering how they would spend the next “15” years of their lives. By the conclusion of their epic walk, it was clear, their future would be in wine. So on return they began to seek a suitable property. Suitable meant not only suitable soil and climate for grapes, but the property must also have a story to tell. In a country with a limited winemaking tradition, and with a likely small production, the story to tell had be more than just the wines they would produce.

And so they found a property of 6 hectares in Wognum, near Hoorn in North Holland. The property had been many years in the ownership of the Saal family, who not only had grown table grapes there – giving a long history of viticulture, but the previous owner was also prominent as an internationally recognised Choir Director, who had nurtured local talent to develop a choir that could sell out a performance in Prague. And there Mr Saal would take his table grapes to sell at the same time. The strong history had appeal and so, in 2005, the property was purchased from the Saal family and Wijngaard Saalhof was first established.

Siem reports that “everything was a mess” at first and it took 2 years just to clean and tidy up the property. He established a 6 year plan based on an agrotourism model, as the economics of wine production alone were unsustainable. He planted Pinot Noir because it was well-known, along with Rondo, Johanniter, and even some Solaris which he regrets. More recently he has planted Souvignier Gris, which has a good reputation but the young vines are slow to establish on his soils. The latter four are all PiWis and much less work than the Pinot Noir, typically requiring only half the antifungal treatments required by noble varieties. He also inherited with the property some glasshouses with various grape plantings and has retained some Isabella an early hybrid crossing of unknown Vitis Labrusca and Vinifera species. In New Zealand  we call this Albany Surprise and it is pretty much a table grape for the home.

Saalhof wines on display

Having no prior experience of PiWi wines I was eagerly looking forward to tasting some of the Saalhof wines. The first wine I tasted, the 2023 Johanniter was surprisingly good. Lemon-straw in the glass, it had pear, apple and herb aromas. On the palate it was delicious, crisp, fruity and dry with grapefruit and some white peach and perhaps green melon flavours underpinned with a distinctive textural, herbal-edged minerality a little reminiscent of Marsanne but with much brighter acidity and none of the oiliness. It has a clean slightly phenolic finish and I thought it would be a delicious aperitif but also quite versatile with food. The wine is not yet in bottle but Sien kindly prepared one for me to take away. I shared it with a French wine lover from Champagne a few days ago while touring the Mosel and he also found it a different but enjoyable wine.

Next up I tasted the 2024 Johanniter in tan.  From a difficult vintage it was noticeably leaner and more acidic but nonetheless enjoyable with citrus and herb favours that I think would match white fish with dill and fennel.

The 2022 Johanniter we tasted had sadly been open too long and was partly oxidised and “flat” but ripe grapefruit and white peach aromas and flavours were still discernible, which incline me to believe a fresh bottle would be more than acceptable.

We then had a look at the red wines commencing with the 2023 Rondo. Deep purple ruby in the glass – a very attractive hue, with dark forest berry aromas along with something unusual – but not unpleasant - that I remain unable to characterise, but which does not correspond to anything in my prior experience described as rustic. On the palate it was medium bodied, low tannin (despite the dark colour), medium low acidity, medium-high acidity and rich fruited but I am still struggling to categorise and describe a distinctly unusual – but not unpleasant – flavour.