We’re finding ourselves back in Ingelheim – you may recall, the northern Rheinhessen town where Carsten Saalwächter is making some of Germany’s most sophisticated wine from Burgundy varieties.

It’s a cool and windy place, where limestone-packed hills breathe intense energy, acidity and polish into the wine. And, it’s also home to Lena Singer-Fischer: the rare German producer who specializes in sparkling wine.

In fact, it’s all she makes – and it’s really, really good.

The wines feel more shoulder-to-shoulder with grower Champagne than our favorite German Sekte.

She’s working with Champagne varieties: Chardonnay, Spätburgunder, Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier). And there’s a high thread count that speaks to her prior experience working for Larmandier-Bernier.

It doesn’t hurt that her main gig is managing the family’s (third gen) Sektkellerei: a local resource for other producers to bring their raw materials to be turned into a variety of sparkling styles (pet-nat, sekt, traditional method). She’s a master of sparkling production – as importer vom Boden puts it, “She has, quite literally, done nearly everything one can do in the world of sparkling wine, hundreds of times for hundreds of different bottlings.”

But, since 2017 her true work is in farming (organically) 3 hectares of her family’s 12 hectare estate, from which she makes her ultra-polished eponymous traditional method bottlings.

They're distinctly cool climate, acid-driven, fresh; and there’s just enough texture and aromatic expanse to bring things perfectly in balance (for the BdB and BdN, via a dash of dosage; and for the top cuvée, from almost 4 years of age).

We can’t resist a comparison to Nicola Gatta, another hometown-hero-we-love who's making what is essentially his country’s version of grower Champagne. Lena is exactly that, and if you’re a lover of the world’s best bubbles, these bottles are certainly for you.

SHOP LENA SEKT

2020 Lena Sekt Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut $45
100% Chardonnay, direct-pressed and aged in used tonneaux; followed by two years on the lees and 3g dosage; no fining or filtration. Disgorged this past May 2024, it's salty and beautifully fresh but not lacking in richly textured bubbles and structure.

2020 Lena Sekt Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut $45
Mostly Pinot Noir with some Pinot Meunier, aged mostly in used tonneaux and partially in used barrique followed by two years on the lees and 4g dosage; no fining or filtration. A little spicier and more brooding than the BdB, rich fruit and elegant hazelnut. Like the BdB, richly textured mousse and structure.

2019 Lena Sekt 'Mythos' Brut Nature $68
The top cuvee, done with no dosage, from a selection of top barrels of all three grapes (40% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier) and aged 42 months prior to disgorgement. Wildly complex, with a really grounded minerality and more ethereal aromatics than the other two bottlings; it also has the finest mousse. Truly, a next-level Sekt.