The Cellar

 

Our aim is to tease out the particular features of the vineyard sites and qualities, and not to standardise them. Each vintage is unique, unrepeatable. All our wines are originals and typical of the Middle Rhine – with lively acidity and marked minerality. They require some time to mature and are particularly suitable for longer storage.

 

From grapes to wine

 

The basis of all our wines is selective harvesting, by hand, careful transportation of the grapes and great care in their handling. As a rule, the musts begin to ferment spontaneously, but we have no problem with additionally using neutral fermentation yeast. Slow fermentation in our cool cross-vault cellar and extended storage on the yeast support the marked minerality of the Riesling. We do not think much of transient "tropical fruit fermentation" aromas. We prefer storage in the old taste-neutral wooden cask to the stainless steel tank. Our wines are bottled in late spring, after a sparing use of sulphur, with no clarification aids and only one filtration. All our wines fulfil the demands of a vegan diet.

 

The Cave of the Buona Riesa - The Goddes of Good Riesling

 

Far beneath our house, in the western corner of the cross-vault cellar, is a massive outcrop of slate rock. As this always carries water, it cools our cellar naturally. In 1996, at a grotto-like section of that rock, the Buona Riesa – Goddess of Good Riesling appeared to our friend and gifted storyteller Wolf Krämer. Since then, she has watched over the Riesling in our cellar from her grotto. The portrait of the Goddess, a work by Leonardo da Vinci known to most of us by the assumed name of “Mona Lisa”, recalls both that historic event and our dear friend Wolf, who was called away much too soon to the paradise of the wine gods …

We invite you to view the grotto and – you never know – perhaps Buona Riesa will appear to you as well.