Katla Wines | Wine of Jas Swan

Katla Wines is Jas Swan. The project started in 2019 in the Mosel, working out of the cellar at Staffelter Hof, and she has since moved her base to Wöllstein in Rheinhessen where she now has a cellar of her own.

She farms 0.8 hectares of Merlot, Silvaner and Riesling herself. Everything else is négoce: she buys chemical-free grapes from friends working in the surrounding areas, which is how a project this small ends up with a range this broad. Total production sits at around 10,000 bottles a year, so the quantity of any single wine is genuinely small.

In her own words: "Katla is freestyle creative wines, that keep innovating. I make my own traditions instead of following the expected, I keep pushing." That shows up in the bottles. She does not make every wine every year, and the label artwork changes annually, so what you bought last year may not exist this year and will almost certainly look different.

Jas also runs Back of the Van, a mobile wine fair that sets up as a satellite event alongside the bigger, better funded natural wine fairs.

The names change, the labels change and the range moves with whatever grapes Jas can get hold of, so treat this as a snapshot rather than a fixed list.

Queendom is the one people ask for by name, a red and white blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris and Regent. Heks is the rosé, built from Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Regent. Helja is a light, low alcohol Riesling and Alison is her Pinot Noir. Sassy brings together Grüner Veltliner, Kerner and Pinot Blanc, while Bo is an aromatic Bacchus made in a run of just 500 bottles.

Earlier bottlings that built the following include Kiki, Sigyn, Bára and Stóra Dímon, alongside Blóma, fermented with foraged herbs, and Some Kind of Peace, made with the Icelandic musician Ólafur Arnalds.

Several of the labels feature drag queens Jas collaborates with, which tells you roughly how much the project cares for convention.

Grapes are picked by hand, including off the steep slopes above the Mosel, and pressed in wooden basket presses. Fermentation runs in neutral vessels with nothing added to start it and nothing added to steer it.

On sulphur she is straightforward: a small amount is sometimes added at bottling, and sometimes none at all. Beyond that nothing goes in and nothing is taken out. As she puts it, the rest is time and love.

The experiments are where Katla gets interesting. Jas has aged barrels outdoors and fermented with foraged botanicals including lilac and Douglas fir. These are decisions taken during fermentation rather than flavourings added to a finished wine, and they are a good part of why the bottles taste like very little else coming out of Rheinhessen.

Who is behind Katla Wines?

Katla Wines is Jas Swan, who founded the project in 2019 in the Mosel and now works from her own cellar in Wöllstein, Rheinhessen.

Where is Katla Wines based?

Wöllstein, in Rheinhessen, Germany. The project began in the Mosel and Jas still takes fruit from the steep slopes there, as well as from the Nahe and Rheinhessen.

Do Katla wines contain sulphur?

Sometimes. Jas adds a small amount of sulphites at bottling on some wines and none on others. Nothing else is added and nothing is removed.

What grapes does Jas Swan work with?

She farms Merlot, Silvaner and Riesling on her own 0.8 hectares. Across the bought-in fruit the range has included Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Regent, Grüner Veltliner, Kerner and Bacchus.

Why do the Katla labels change every year?

Because Jas redesigns them every year, and she does not make every wine every vintage. What gets made depends on which grapes are available and what she feels like making. Several labels feature drag queens she collaborates with.

How much wine does Katla make?

Around 10,000 bottles a year in total, split across a changing range, so individual wines are made in very small numbers.

What is Back of the Van?

A mobile wine fair organised by Jas Swan, which sets up as a satellite event next to the larger, better funded natural wine fairs.