Matassa release (!), new Bencze Birtok and Slobodné, event with Franz Strohmeier, fresh 2Naturkinders, new Donati, additions and re-stocks La Rural and a Lage Landen Special for Job's birthday...
After a rather grey and rainy May, June more than made up for it — the longest day of the year has already come and gone, the sun has been out, and July is here. Behind the scenes, we are slowly starting to think about our portfolio tasting in November, but there is plenty to report in the here-and-now of summer.
We are celebrating this month — and the whole of July — the arrival of the new 2025 vintage from Matassa, as well as a small release of some beautifully aged older cuvées. We also received a wide range — in small quantities, as always — of the precise and thrillingly sharp wines of István Bencze, and a big shipment of white, orange, and non-alcoholic (!) delights from our friends at Slobodné. And last month we welcomed Michael of 2Naturkinder for the longest weekend of the year, which happened to coincide with a fresh batch of 2Naturkinder arriving — more on all of those below.
Later this month, we are hosting Franz Strohmeier in Amsterdam for a dinner evening at the Zuiver Bar — open to everyone, and a very good reason to be at the De Ruijterkade on a Wednesday. And at the end of the month, our very own Job is turning a year older, and celebrating the way he sees fit: with pure-natural wines and ciders from the ‘Lage Landen’ at Café De Linden.
In terms of quick news, there is fresh La Rural on its way from Catalonia — including a liter format of their wonderful Yellow — and new stock from Camillo Donati in Emilia, who is now bottling under new names for reasons that are, frankly, as Italian as it gets. And the Filari Corti from Carussin is back, after a long absence many of you have been patiently waiting for.
Read on for all the details, the invitations for the Strohmeier dinner and Job’s birthday, and the fresh shop additions at the bottom of this letter.
MATASSA RELEASE: FRESH 2025S AND SOME BEAUTIFULLY AGED 2024S
Tom Lubbe — the enigmatic, walking encyclopaedia with an extraordinary feel for winemaking and an approach that goes well beyond biodynamics — has once again produced magnificent work in 2025. After four extremely dry years, winter finally brought the sorely needed rain back to the Roussillon. Tom told us that in the two weeks before harvest, around 120mm of rain fell, accounting for roughly half of the year’s total rainfall. The vineyards looked better than they had in years — all the more remarkable after a period during which drought had been the defining challenge. As Tom himself wrote: “The vineyards look fantastic after the winter rains (…) after 4 difficult years here (drought-wise).”
Despite that welcome rain, summer remained warm and dry. To preserve the freshness and energy of the wines, Tom decided to shorten maceration times by roughly a day compared to previous years. He also racked off the coarse lees as early as October, allowing the fine lees to settle faster and the finished wines to come out of the bottle that much clearer. The approach shifted slightly, but the philosophy remained exactly the same: pure, lively wines without added sulphite. One thing worth noting: the new labels no longer carry the ‘no added sulphites’ mention. Owing to the ever-increasing administrative burden, Tom has chosen to use the generic ‘contains sulphites’ wording going forward. Nothing in the bottles has changed — the wines are still made without any added sulphur.
The wines below are available from today. Tasting through the new vintage, we were once again struck by how much energy, tension, and sheer drinkability Tom manages to pack into such low alcohol levels. Almost all cuvées stay at or below 10.5%, yet feel complete, deep, and intense throughout.
Olla Blanc 2025 is, as always, the perfect introduction to the world of Matassa. The blend of Muscat d’Alexandrie, Muscat à Petits Grains, and Macabeu is particularly clear and direct this year, with aromas of citrus, white flowers, and ripe peach. The slightly shorter maceration and early racking give the wine an even more precise, taut character than usual, without losing any of its characteristic juiciness. Light, energetic, and dangerously easy to drink.
Marguerite 2025 is made from the same varieties as Olla Blanc 2025, but from Tom’s own old vines, which immediately adds depth and concentration. The wine combines exuberant aromas of citrus blossom, ginger, and spice with impressive focus and tension. Tom was, incidentally, quite astonished to learn how much Marguerite makes its way to the Netherlands each year. When he found out how many bottles are now bottled for our market, he reportedly laughed and responded with: “Bloody heck that’s good work!” We take that as a great compliment, and gladly pass it on to all of you who drink and pour it so loyally.
Tommy Ferriol 2025 comes out swinging. Tom told us the Syrah plots for this vintage barely yielded 10 hectolitres per hectare, which he says explains directly why “TF is more intense because barely 10 hl/ha on the Syrahs.” The combination of Syrah and Muscat d’Alexandrie once again delivers a wine that draws the best from both varieties — spiced, deep, aromatic, and at the same time utterly light on its feet. One of those typical Matassa wines that tastes far bigger than the 10.5% alcohol would suggest.
Furthermore, we also have very limited quantities of Blossom 2025 to share. Blossom is Tom’s quintessential summer wine, made from 100% Muscat à Petits Grains, bursting with aromas that its name already strongly hints at. It drinks like summer juice with a high pick-me-up factor: aromatic, light, and very drinkable. Blossom has by now quietly become something of a cult wine, finding its growing band of devoted fans every year — and one we’re very happy to celebrate summer with.
Alongside the new arrivals, we have something a little special this year. From both El Carner Rouge 2024 and Tattouine Rouge 2024, we deliberately held back part of the stock that arrived last year and let it rest for an extra year in our own cellar before releasing it — something that has quietly become something of a Zuiver tradition. It is not standard practice in the wine trade to sit on scarce new releases for a year before selling them, but with these two cuvées we are very happy to do so. We are simply convinced that a little extra bottle age allows them to show more of themselves, and that the combination of patience, depth, and terroir expression only gets stronger for it.
El Carner Rouge 2024 is made from old-vine Grenache Gris and Macabeu, aged in amphora, and is for us among the most characterful orange/red wines of the Roussillon. The wine carries the classification Vin de France Rouge — only Tom Lubbe can transform white grapes into something this copper-coloured. After an extra year in bottle, the saline minerality, herbs, ripe citrus, and subtle smokiness come together even more beautifully. El Carner Rouge 2024 is always broad-shouldered in texture, yet simultaneously energetic and juicy — a wine that makes it abundantly clear how much potential these old plots hold.
Tattouine Rouge 2024 is even harder to pin down. It is made from a large blend of old white and red varieties grown together in the same vineyards. Despite its extremely pale colour, the wine has an impressive depth and concentration. With extra bottle age, the floral, herbal, and earthy nuances come through more emphatically. A wine that seems almost weightless, yet lingers on the palate for minutes. That contrast between lightness and intensity is precisely what makes Tattouine Rouge 2024 so special to us, year after year.
The wines are online and on the shelves now, but we know they move generally quick… Luckily, a second release will follow later in the year, with wines such as Alexandria, the Blanc and Rouge, and French Disko. Good things come to those who wait, but many good things are available now for those who are ready!
Those famously low alcohol percentages are very welcome in this heat!
A NEW WAVE OF BENCZE BIRTOK ARRIVES
When we tasted at length with Klaudia and István of Bencze Birtok for the first time two years ago, it quickly became clear why their wines have acquired something of a mythical status in the natural wine world. The combination of volcanic soils around the Szent György-hegy, early harvests, frequent aging sur lies, and an uncompromising focus on energy and terroir produces wines that are simultaneously light-footed and complex. A big new shipment has just arrived from Hungary, with both familiar cuvées and a handful of new faces.
The two sparkling wines from Klaudia and István — Pétillant Rosé 2023 and Pétillant Blanc 2023 — are both wonderfully lively and perfectly suited to the current temperatures. For the Pétillant Rosé, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zervin, and Blauburger are held on their skins for seven days before being blended with directly pressed Chenin Blanc juice. It comes out of the bottle radiant, with aromas of fresh red berries, pomegranate, and hibiscus, and the characteristic volcanic salinity of Bencze — to say nothing of the acidity.
For the Pétillant Blanc 2023, Klaudia and István use a blend of both white and red varieties: Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, and Pinot Noir. All grapes are pressed directly and fermented separately before the base wines are combined and bottled before fermentation is complete. The result is a beautiful, fresh wine with fine mousse and citrus, apple, and white blossom at the fore. Both pétillants are dangerously drinkable…
Alongside the sparkling wines, we received new vintages of several of Bencze’s whites. The Várvölgy Olaszrizling 2023 — better known as Welschriesling elsewhere — shows once again how much this sometimes-underestimated variety has to give. Grown on volcanic slopes where basalt, tuff, sandstone, and clay all meet, Bencze coaxes an enormous amount from the grapes: light creaminess, ripe pear, almond, sesame, seaweed, and white flowers, all supported by a lively, tingling sweet-sour edge that recalls the Ex Vero ‘S’ wines of Weingut Werlitsch — which, if you know us at all, is about as high a compliment as we give.
We also received the new vintage Riesling 2023, as well as two new arrivals: Furmint 2023 and Pinot Gris 2023. The drought of 2023 gave the Riesling less juice and thicker skins, resulting in a wine of considerable texture and intensity — loupe-clear, with electric acidity that makes summer dining al fresco considerably more enjoyable.
The warm, dry 2023 conditions allowed a light botrytis to develop on the Furmint 2023, yielding a complex, deep, and long wine. The languorous Pinot Gris 2023 sits between both worlds: aged sur lies and therefore rich, with distant aromas of toast, but with enough fresh acidity to remain completely refreshing. Bottled under crown cap because a little residual sweetness lingered — once again a wine with a very high ‘S’ factor, where the S is yours to interpret. We would say: Superb, Süss, Simply Breathtaking. We could go on. Festive, in any case.
For those drawn to the more gastronomic end of the Bencze spectrum, Aries 2021 is now available. This cuvée is among the most layered whites on the estate, made from Riesling off the oldest vines and given plenty of time to develop. Ripe fruit, incense, petrol, chamomile, salted citrus, and a hint of flower honey make Aries one of the finest white wines of Lake Balaton — a wine that holds its own against the great natural Moselle and Alsatian whites we love so much.
On the red side, Autochton Red 2024 returns — as always a wine that feels like bottled volcanic energy: powerful, smoky minerality with complex aromas of rosehip and grapefruit, made from the indigenous Kadarka and Kék Bakator. We also received another allocation of Atlas 2022, Bencze’s more serious Pinot Noir from a higher plot, where the grapes are fermented as whole clusters and aged on oak. On the right day it smells more of blood orange and apricot-like orange wine than red, but the Pinot and the Balaton volcano are happily still very much present. Both Atlas 2022 and Autochton Red 2022 are also available as limited magnums, as are the mineral Autochton White 2022, the spicy and herbal Kékfrankos 2022, and the cheerful, rhubarb-like Pinot Noir 2022. A lot of news — but consequently, a lot of very good drinking. We tasted all the wines last week, and they are ‘on fire’, as they say…
SLOBODNÉ WELL STOCKED AGAIN, INCLUDING NON-ALCOHOLIC REFRESHMENTS
From our Slovakian friends at Slobodné Vinárstvo we recently received a substantial new shipment, meaning a large part of the range is once again freely available. And that is genuinely good news, because the wines of Slobodné have quietly become some of the most characterful, sympathetic, and keenly priced bottles in the Zuiver portfolio.
Slobodné is made at the family estate Majer Zemianske Sady in western Slovakia. After the family lost almost everything during the communist era, later generations managed to reclaim the vineyards and rebuild the estate from the ground up. Today they are among the foremost pioneers of natural wine in Slovakia — working organically, fermenting spontaneously, and bottling almost everything without unnecessary intervention.
The biggest arrival is Majer Blanc — their white house wine and a cornerstone of what Slobodné does. A blend of several varieties (Sauvignon Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Devin, Traminer, Pinot Gris), vintages, and vessels (steel, amphora, and plastic), it is perhaps the perfect introduction to the Slobodné style: aromatic, light-footed, juicy, and always surprisingly thirst-quenching. A bottle that asks very little of you and gives a great deal back.
Alongside Majer Blanc, Devína returns — made from the Slovakian variety of the same name, offering the aromatic side of Traminer with fresh acidity and a fine herbal quality. Smetana remains one of our favourite summer whites: Grüner Veltliner with plenty of tropical fruit, tension, and drinkability; no more complicated than it needs to be. The saline 100% Riesling called Interval 2021 represents the more serious end of the Slobodné spectrum, and shows beautifully how much tension, minerality, and aging potential this region has to offer.
For those drawn to skin-contact wines, the rhubarb-and-orange Cutis Deviner and the orange Riesling called Eggstasy are both available. Deep, generous wines with a focused core — and considerably more approachable in price than one might expect from wines of this quality and character.
Alongside the wines, we also received generous quantities of the non-alcoholic Mušt Sauvignon and Mušt Frankovka. Mušt (English: wine ‘must’) is simply freshly pressed grape juice that has not yet fermented — and that is precisely what is in these bottles. The white version, from early-harvested Sauvignon Blanc, is full of fresh acidity, tropical fruit, and herbal aromas. The rosé, from Frankovka (Blaufränkisch), recalls blueberries, forest fruit, and freshly picked blackberries. Our strong recommendation is to use both Mušts to make a Schorle — the popular Austrian and German refresher in which fruit juice or wine is mixed with sparkling water. One part Mušt, one part sparkling water, a little ice if you like, and you have one of the most refreshing drinks imaginable for a hot summer day.
On the non-alcoholic front, we also received a good stock of Fizzy’s in 330ml bottles. Where Mušt is pure grape juice, the Fizzy’s are lightly sparkling soft drinks based on grape must, fruit, and aromatic herbs — a lovely addition to any table for those who prefer to skip the alcohol without skipping the pleasure.
That we are great admirers of the wines of Franz Strohmeier will come as no surprise to regular readers. Every spring we eagerly await the new vintages from West Styria, and cuvées such as Schiller Frizzante and TLZ Weiss have long been permanent fixtures in the Zuiver world.
On Wednesday 15 July, Franz himself is coming to Amsterdam, and we are very much making the most of the occasion. In the evening, everyone is welcome for a Styrian summer evening at the Zuiver Bar, where Franz will pour several flights of his wines, and Mattis Neumann will be cooking a simple, pure and seasonal market menu — paired with Franz’s wines and the Steirischer pumpkin seed oil he is bringing along for the occasion.
Throughout the evening we will be pouring a broad selection of Franz’s wines in different flights, from the well-known spring favourites to a number of cuvées that rarely get opened. Franz will be there in person to talk through the wines, answer questions, and — if past form is anything to go by — tell a very good story or two. Anyone who has spent an evening with him will know that a conversation with Franz tends to be at least as entertaining as the wines themselves.
The price is €60 per person, including the simple market dinner and the flights of wine throughout the evening. The doors open at 18:00, and at 18:30 we will pour the first flight of wine. Places are limited, so we ask everyone to book a ticket via our website, HERE. First come, first served!
We can’t think of any better way to spend a summer evening than with a line-up of beautiful Styrian wines from Franz Strohmeier, dinner by Mattis, and good company on the De Ruijterkade. Hope to see you there.
Michael before Franken Fest (in the heat…) at Zuiver Bar, June 2026
Last month Tom and Job made their way to Nijmegen for Franken Fest at our friends at Desem. Dondi Bistro from Würzburg and Desem joined forces to keep everyone supplied with pizzas and bagels, while we poured alongside Michael of 2Naturkinder across a wide selection of Franconian wines. The lively, fresh acidity of these cool-climate wines has never felt more welcome than on that gloriously hot day!
Fortunately, we are nowhere near saying goodbye to Melanie and Michael’s wines — we have just received a fresh delivery of 2Naturkinder, and as usual the new vintages are bursting with energy, low in alcohol, and lifted by those characteristic vivid acidities.
The new Steinkauz 2025, a pétillant naturel from 100% Silvaner, is a wine that seems to suit any occasion. The minerality of Silvaner comes through beautifully, sharpened by a herbal edge from a week of skin contact — perfect for the terrace, but equally lovely as an aperitif before a serious dinner. 2Naturkinder also introduced a new pét nat this year: Wiesenhummel 2025, from 100% Bacchus, named after the bumblebees that drift through the vineyards. The more aromatic sibling of Steinkauz 2025, with aromas of grapefruit and peach.
Vater & Sohn #7, originally a project between Michael and his father, remains perhaps the quintessential 2Naturkinder wine. With grapes from chalky limestone soils — predominantly Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner, with a little Riesling and Pinot Gris — the wine is crisp and elegant, complex yet utterly easy to drink. For sheer quality at the price, you would have to search very hard to find better.
In orange territory, 2Naturkinder is equally brilliant. Where Wilde Meute 2023 — a blend of Bacchus, Silvaner, and Pinot Gris — shows fresh herbal character with aromas of cucumber, elderflower, and cinnamon, Siebenschläfer 2022 brings much more aromatic intensity and tension. Siebenschläfer 2022 is a blend of white and red grapes harvested simultaneously, the gradual differences in ripeness working very much in favour of the wine’s complexity and energy. An undisputed favourite at Franken Fest!
Weinschwärmer 2023 owes its coppery colour to the Pinot Gris, which is held on skins before — after nine months’ rest — directly pressed Riesling is added. The blend rests for a further nine months in old wood, opening up with rich aromas of grapefruit and rosehip. The fantastic Black Betty 2025 is back too: lightly red from Regent and Domina, with plenty of dark fruit and fresh herbal character. Fledermaus Rot 2023 also shone at the weekend: 100% Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier) of outstanding quality — semi-carbonic maceration, aged in steel, a real energy bomb with precisely the right acidity.
One third of the Schwarzriesling harvest is always set aside for the pétillant naturelBat-Nat 2025. Destemmed and pressed after one night of skin contact, the result is a wine brimming with rhubarb, white strawberry, and lively mousse. Another winner! We also have Brutal 2024 — the only 100% Riesling from 2Naturkinder, from the steepest part of the vineyard, pressed directly and fermented in wooden vessels. Riesling without fuss; a wine that proves why the variety is so often considered the crown jewel of German wine: deep minerality, layered, floral, and with that distinctive hint of petrol.
Both Brutal 2024 and Vater & Sohn #7 are available in larger formats this time around: we received magnums and — in very small quantities — jeroboams. For those with plans for long summer evenings, large tables, and festive occasions. And for those now spontaneously making those plans.
SHORT NEWS: SPARKLING DELIVERY FROM EMILIA-ROMAGNA
The sparkling wines of Camillo Donati from the Colli di Parma are back in stock — but those who order will notice something has changed on the labels. Not in the wine itself, but in the name.
The backstory is as Italian as it gets: a lobby of large wine houses established a consortium that intends to control the entire production of the Emilia IGT according to its own rules. Part of the package: producers are now obliged to affix a numbered label to every bottle, purchased from a printer designated by the consortium — as though it were a DOCG wine. Moreover, they may no longer mention the grape variety, the production method, or the words ‘bottled at the source’ on the label. Camillo Donati and around a hundred other small producers gathered signatures and made their case to the politicians. The politicians did nothing.
His answer: refuse to bend. The wines are no longer labelled as Emilia IGT but as simple table wine. For those cuvées that previously carried the grape variety’s name, those names have been replaced by fantasy names — while the label design remains the same: same colours, same layout. What is in the bottle is entirely unchanged.
In practical terms: Lambrusco is now Lambaro 2025, and Campai remains Campai 2025. We have the 2025 vintage of both. Malvasia Rosa and Trebbiano are still available as 2024 and will also be getting new names shortly — we will keep you posted. If there are any questions about which name belongs to which wine, do drop us a line.
La Famiglia!
SHORT NEWS: FILARI CORTI, BIB’S AND MORE FROM CARUSSIN
Carussin, the Ferro family estate near Asti in Piedmont, has been making wine for decades in a way that needs little explanation: organically, with respect for the grape, and without unnecessary intervention. We have worked with their wines for years, and are delighted that — after some waiting — a few new things are available again.
The undisputed star of this delivery is Filari Corti, their Moscato d’Asti. After a long absence and a lot of patient enquiries from your side, it is finally back. This is lightly sparkling, low-alcohol Moscato d’Asti at its most lovely: aromatic as peach blossom, velvety soft, with the characteristic fresh sweet-sour balance of Asti. Filari Corti is the ideal companion for all the good summer desserts — from strawberries and rhubarb to ripe peaches and airy panna cotta.
Besides the sweet bubbles, we also now stock Completo Bianco (white) en Completo Rosso (red), bag-in-boxes in 3L format. As many of you know, these are sizes which are very practical in (high volume) usage, and make parties dangerously fun.
We also have Asinoi back in stock: a gentle, classically made Barbera d’Asti for lovers of that style — calm, earthy, and generous.
SHORT NEWS: LA RURAL IS ON ITS WAY
Brothers Xavi and Andreù of La Rural from Santes Creus, in the heart of Catalonia, visited Amsterdam in person this spring — those who follow our previous newsletters will remember. The tasting session ended with empty bottles and a few empty cases: the wines moved quickly, and some cuvées sold out faster than we had anticipated.
Fortunately, a new shipment is now on its way. Incoming are Yellow 2025 (also available in 1L!), along with stock of Moscatell, Claret, and Sumoll, joined by a limited quantity of Malvasia de Sitges, all from 2024, which we have carried before. The style is unchanged — crisp, aromatic, pleasingly saline and savoury, yet always surprisingly light on its feet, with the grapes speaking clearly of the terroir around Santes Creus. Yellow in 1L in particular offers an interesting option for anyone looking for a quality white (yellow? orange?) bottle in a larger format, with the energy and tension that recall the celebrated Tir à Blanc ofmonsieurAlain Castex.
We expect the wines in mid-July and will announce their arrival via our Instagram.
LAGE LANDEN SPECIAL + JOB’S BIRTHDAY @ CAFÉ DE LINDEN
Sneak preview of the poster for the Low Countries Special, with Job in the lead role. By our friend Frank van der Sman, naturally!
On Saturday 26 July we are celebrating Job turning a year older — and doing so in the only appropriate way: with pure-natural wines and ciders from the Low Countries and Belgium, good company, and, of course, friet zuurvlees. Café De Linden in the Jordaan is the setting, and the theme is Job’s way of managing the homesickness for Maastricht on his birthday in Amsterdam.
From 15:00 to 20:00 we will be pouring exclusively pure-natural wines and ciders from friendly producers in Limburg and Belgium. Job himself will be behind the bar, and friends and familiar faces from the region will be joining with their own work. What exactly opens is deliberately kept a little mysterious — but there are a few bottles set aside for those who enjoy something quite extraordinary. And for those who want to raise a glass to Job specifically: there is a good chance some of his own 2024 wine will be opened for tasting. On the food front, Luc Walter is providing friet zuurvlees, so as far as we are concerned, the afternoon is already sorted.
No reservation needed — just come along. Further details will follow via Café De Linden’s Instagram. We hope to see you on the 26th!
As always, the Matassa’s, Bencze’s and all other fresh shop additions are behind the buttons above. If you have any questions — about availability, about which wine to open with a particular dish, or simply to catch up — we are reachable at info@zuiverwijnen.nl or via webshop@zuiverwijnen.nl and by phone during office hours. We also love to see you in the shop, at the Zuiver Bar on the De Ruijterkade, or simply somewhere in the sun. Until soon!
