Poolinq - The Operating System for Wines

Overnoy Business School — where the market doesn’t set the pace.

At Pupillin, sitting with Pierre Overnoy and Emmanuel Houillon felt less like a tasting and more like stepping into a completely different understanding of wine. What they showed isn’t a method you can simply copy — it’s a mindset built on patience, observation and absolute respect for the living process behind every bottle.

Natural wine here is not a trend, not a label, not a shortcut. It’s about removing intervention to the point where the wine can find its own balance. No forced corrections, no technical fixes — just careful attention. They don’t “make” wine in the conventional sense, they accompany it. Every decision is about when not to act.

What stood out most is their relationship with time. There is no fixed schedule, no pressure to release according to market expectations or consumer demand. If a wine isn’t ready, it simply waits. Sometimes years. The rhythm is entirely dictated by the wine itself, not by external timelines.

This creates something rare: wines that are not shaped for the market, but allowed to exist on their own terms. Wines that evolve slowly, quietly, without being pushed into a predefined style.

You realize quickly that this approach requires something that can’t be rushed or manufactured — trust. Trust in the vineyard, in the cellar, and in the process as a whole.

It’s not about control. It’s about letting go — and being present enough to guide without interfering. And that might be the hardest thing to learn.

Kirchspiel Grand Cru 2024, Westhofen, Rheinhessen, Germany 🇩🇪

Notes 📝: Kirchspiel in Westhofen is one of the difficult Grand Cru parcels in Westhofen because the soils no longer retain water as well as they used to, and the complex exposure makes it even more difficult because the site is hard to cultivate. Anyone who has drunk Kirchspiel several times knows what this plot expresses. My personal task was to make a Kirchspiel with more depth and length and less straightforwardness and purism. I wanted a Kirchspiel that comes across as very calm and with enormous depth - that was the task. Fabian Ring is one of the few winemakers and vintners in Westhofen who actually lives in the vineyard and feels the subject matter. I brought up the topic and it immediately resonated with him. Fabian is someone who wants to know things for himself and whose sole focus is on making great wine. But you can only make great wine if you engage in dialogue. Fabian owns 0.25 hectares and the vines were planted in 1985, so the conditions are perfect for making great wine. We harvested on 29 September 2024, whereas many other wineries finished on 21 September due to the severe, unimaginable weather conditions. We took a chance and it paid off. It was an experiment and we actually surpassed ourselves, vinifying Kirchspiel in half-batches using the baie par baie method and blending it very lightly with a Kirchspiel Auslese. Slow and gentle pressing, bottled without filtration and using gravity. The 2024 vintage comes from Fabian and myself, and the result is breathtaking. A wine for decades and for eternity. Very dense, tight and lots of finesse - A Monument.

I only filled 60 magnum bottles. These can be found in Beaune, Copenhagen, Zurich and Singapore. It is an honour for me. And of course for poolinq customers.

The label is inspired by Lafleur, Leroy and Rayas.