Makalié is a tiny estate founded in 2019 by Max Frölich and Karoline Linka in Müllheim, in the southern Baden region of Germany. Both trained at the University of Geisenheim and seasoned in natural wine cellars across France and Austria, they returned home with a commitment to making wines that feel inseparable from the land itself. The name Makalié reflects that philosophy, created from maka (earth) and lié (connected).

Their vineyards lie on steep slopes between the Black Forest, France, and Switzerland and their farming follows biodynamic principles, while in the cellar everything is done gently: hand harvests, spontaneous fermentations, aging in old Burgundian barrels and amphora, no fining or filtration, and only the faintest touch of sulfur at bottling. Production is microscopic, only a few hundred bottles per cuvée, yet the wines are pure and precise, vibrant and elegant, and a deeply personal expression of Baden’s terroirs and a philosophy of connection to the earth.

Bleuwen comes from Makalié’s top site, the steep Römerberg vineyard that sits at 400 meters, where thin clay soils rest on Jurassic limestone and calcareous marl. The high elevation and cool evening winds from the Black Forest lend freshness and detail to this spätburgunder, while the stony terroir forces the vines to root deeply, creating structure in the wine. The 1970s plantings were harvested by hand, fermented with 70% whole clusters and native yeasts, then aged 18 months before bottling.

The 2022 Bleuwen is serious and yet refined, opening with dark cherry and blackcurrant layered with herbs, wooded soil, and a saline edge. On the palate, there is density without excess weight, the fruit carried by chalky grip and lifted by forest freshness. Finely spiced, long, and energetic, this is a spätburgunder of depth and elegance that captures the power of its limestone soils. These wines are extremely limited, but are certain to reward the curious with the clarity of Makalié’s vision.