Volk_"Rohdiamant"_Forst
Intermediates

Developing the diamond ....

Chemicals
Intermediates
Forster Freundstück / EPCA
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Intermediates

Dear customers

Message from Andrea Frenzel, Erika Peterman, 
Frank Stein and Vasilios Galanos 

Some weeks have gone by since our first message to you about the September harvest of the grapes for the “Forster Freundstück” which we hope to taste with you personally during the EPCA event in 2021.

While the news in our turbulent world has rolled over in the last weeks, here at winery Spindler in Forst all went its usual way. Our wine had some time to settle down. The grapes were pressed, and the must was filled into big stainless-steel tanks in the cellar of the winery. There, the must laid on full yeast and fermented into wine. In the meanwhile, the fermentation process is over, and as the wine ages it becomes clearer every day.

Volk_"Rohdiamant"_Forst
The developing wine in the glass is still cloudy, because the yeast is still levitating in the wine.
Volk_"Rohdiamant"_Forst
“We’re hoping to taste the upcoming “Forster Freundstück” together with you in 2021”

Marco Altmayer, BASF Intermediates
Standard Amines Europe & Global Gas Trtmt.,
host of BASF's EPCA event 2021

We were curious to get a first taste of this “rough diamond” wine as the experts named it. Thus, we visited - together with Bernhard Wolff, Head of BASF’s wine cellar - the Spindler winery. Owner Markus Spindler showed us around and we tasted a few sips of the fresh wine. In the glasses it was still a bit cloudy, because the yeast is still levitating in it.

“However the taste is creamy, even though the acid content is still pretty high at this stage”, as Bernhard put it giving us a taste of his skills to describe a wine, “there is still a hint of yeast, but also a clear touch of yellow fruits, like stone fruit, apricot and peach. The full body and the volume of the wine still have to develop – but it is very promising”.

Promising news – we can really use this at the end of this extremely challenging year. The recent good news about a vaccine gives us another reason to hope
that we will indeed be able to enjoy the wine together with you in 2021.

Let’s keep the curiosity regarding the development of the “Forster Freundstück”, we’ll keep you posted. For now, let’s take our wine as an example and settle down, get some rest. With this positive thought in mind we do wish you and your families healthy and happy holidays! 

Andrea Frenzel 
BASF Intermediates
Erika Peterman
BASF Intermediates
The Americas
Frank Stein
BASF Intermediates
Europe
Vasilios Galanos
BASF Intermediates
Asia Pacific
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Volk_"Rohdiamant"_Forst
Social distance wine tasting with (fltr) Martin Spindler, Marco Altmayer, Andrea Frenzel, Bernhard Wolff. In the new year the EPCA wine will switch from the stainless-steel tank to one of the wooden barrels.
Volk_"Rohdiamant"_Forst

Left:
The chart shows how the sugar value (measured in “Oechsle”) of the wine drops while the temperature rises in the fermentation process. The lower the Oechsle value, the drier the wine will be in the end. The EPCA wine now is in a middle dry area and has an alcohol content of 12,8%.

 

Right:
In the tank, the yeast started fermenting the must, which can be monitored by the bubbling CO2 in the fermentation tube. After a few weeks, the fermentation process was over, and the CO2 emission stopped.