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Buy Wine from Pfalz
Welcometo the German Paradise!
Pfalz is the second largest Anbaugebiete (or German appellation of origin). With an area under cultivation of almost 25,000 hectares and almost 7,000 producers, it produces about 2.5 million hectoliters per year. It is divided into two Bereiche (sub-denominations): the northern half called Mittelhaardt that goes from Heidesheim in the north to Neudstadt and the southern half called Südliche Weinstrasse that goes from Kirrweiler in the northern part to Schweigen. The area also includes 26 Grosslagen (groups of vineyards) and 330 Einzellagen(individual vineyards).
The Grosslagen of the Mittelhaardt are: Pfaffengrund, Rebstöckel, Meerspinne, Hofstück, Mariengarten, Schnepfenflug, Schenkenböhl, Hochmess, Honigsäckel, Feuerberg, Kobnert, Rosenbühl, Schwarzerde, Höllenpfad, Grafenstück and Schnepfenflug von Zellertal; the Grosslagen of the Südliche Weinstrasse are: Guttenberg, Kloster Liebfrauenberg, Herrlich, Königsgarten, Bischofskreuz, Trappenberg, Ordensgut, Schloss Ludwighöhe and Mandelhöhe.
The Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) of Pfalz classified by the VDP are as follows: HIMMELSRECH MANDELPFAD, STEINBUCKEL, KIRSCHGARTEN, BURGWEG, WEILBERG ROTERDE, MARDELSKOPF HERRENBERG, VOGELSANG HERRENBERG, KANZEL HERRENBERG, MICHELSBERG, PECHSTEIN, JESUITENGARTEN, KIRCHENSTÜCK, FREUNDSTÜCK, UNGEHEUER, KALKOFEN, GRAINHÜBEL, KIESELBERG, LANGENMORGEN, HOHENMORGEN, PARADIESGARTEN, REITERPFAD, SPIESS, GAISBÖHL, IDIG, ÖLBERG , MANDELGARTEN, BREUMEL IN DEN MAUERN BÜRGERGARTEN, KALKBERG, MANDELBERG, MICHELSBERG, SCHLOSSGARTEN IM GOLDENEN JOST, SCHÄWER, SCHLANGENPFIFF MÜNZBERG, IM SONNENSCHEIN GANZ HORN, KASTANIENBUSCH KÖPPEL, MANDELBERG, SONNENBERG, KAMMERBERG SONNENBERG, SANKT PAUL SONNENBERG and RÄDLING SONNENBERG.
Although Pfalz is characterized by the production of dry white and red wines, we can also find interesting examples of sweet wines, mainly made with Riesling, Scheurebe and Muskateller. The style of Pfalz sweets is denser than those of the northern areas such as Nahe or Mosel. In turn, the dry wines, since the beginning of the 21st century, have been very clearly differentiated depending on their style.Since the beginning of the 21st century, dry wines have been very clearly differentiated depending on the climatic conditions of the year: in classic vintages with long ripening periods, abundant rainfall and not too high temperatures, the wines will be fresh and markedly mineral, with contained alcohol levels, where the fruit will not be the protagonist in their first years and where bottle ageing of at least five years will be necessary to be able to glimpse their potential (specifically in the Grosses Gewächs); on the contrary, in early maturity vintages, with periods of drought or heat wave, the wines will have a very evident fruit that will leave the minerality of the wines in the background, the perceived acidity will be very round and even somewhat short, a factor that will be accentuated by the high alcohol level of the wines; it is also frequent to observe in this type of vintages, an opulent botrytis versus the finesse and thinness of the same in classic vintages.
In the following table you can find a quick -generalist- description of the vintages in Pfalz at the beginning of this century:
| Year | Style |
| 2001 | Maturity and warmth but healthy grapes. Exceptional for dry wines. |
| 2002 | Classic, elegant and delicate. Ideal at all levels. Eiswein vintage. |
| 2003 | Warm and dry. Recommended in botrytized sweets. |
| 2004 | Classic. Good for dry wines and kabinett as well as Eiswein. |
| 2005 | Warm. Recommended in botrytized sweets. |
| 2006 | Warm and humid. |
| 2007 | Balanced. Recommended at all levels. |
| 2008 | Excellent in high-end dry wines and Eiswein. Riesling in its purest form. |
| 2009 | Warm. Recommended for dry and sweet basics. |
| 2010 | Extraordinary. Recommended in high-end dry wines. |
| 2011 | Warm. Recommended in basic dry and sweet wines. |
| 2012 | Excellent. Accessibility, cellaring and balance. |
The villages with the best historical reputation in winemaking are located in the Mittelhaardt district, the most important being Forst which comprises about 200 ha of vineyards located between the village and the forest; the best locations are at an altitude of between 120 and 150 meters above sea level. Some of the best German Grosse Lage such as Kirchenstück, Jesuitengarten, Pechstein and Ungeheuer are located in Forst, characterized by their geological composition of basalt and variegated sandstone. Slightly further south, in Deidesheim the soils are mostly limestone with basalt and bedrock where the most reputable Grosse Lage are: Hohenmorgen, Kalkofen, Langenmorgen, Leinhöhle and Grainhübel. Adjacent to Deidesheim is Ruppertsberg where sandstone and marl soils are combined; here the most renowned Grosse Lage are Gaisböhl (in monopoly of Bürklin Wolf), Reiterpfad and Spiess. The last most significant Mittelhaardt villages are Königsbach, Gimmeldingen and Haardt where we find clay-limestone and sandstone soils; the most important Grosse Lage of Könisbach are Idig and Ölberg; those of Gimmeldingen are Mandelgarten and Bienengarten; and finally Bürgergarten in Haardt.
The character of the wines from the southern district, the Südliche Weinstrasse, is always warmer, with even more maturity and exceptions. The first village we find is Kirrweiler, although the Grosse Lage Mandelberg, with loess soils, actually belongs to Duttweiler, with the rest of the unclassified vineyard belonging to Kirrweiler; in the neighboring village of Burrweiler we find the Grosse Lage Schwäwer, characterized by its gray slate soils, unique in Palatinate; in Siebeldingen we highlight Im Sonnenschein, with limestone shell soils and its neighbor Im Sonnenschein-Ganshorn with sandstone gravel soils, vineyards that since the unification law of 1971 have been together, so that today they are once again considered two separate vineyards due to the differences in geological composition and the different character of the wines of both; A little further south, in Birkweiler is one of the most authentic Grosse Lage of the Palatinate both for its geological composition and its altitude, one of the highest in Germany (300 meters), we are talking about Kastanienbusch, which in turn has a part that is specifically called Kastanienbusch "Köppel". The highest part is where Riesling traditionally grows and its soils are composed of red clayey slate, unique in Pfalz; the lower part is populated by the Spätburgunder that grows on the weathered sandstone soils; a second less known Grosse Lage of the same village is Mandelberg with marl soils; somewhat further south and west of Landau, in Leinweiler is the Grosse Lage Sonnenberg with clayey, calcareous and sandy loam soils; Finally, in the southernmost part and bordering Alsace, we find the beautiful village of Schweigen and Sonnenberg, a large Grosse Lage that is split and distributed along the Franco-German border; On the German side the soils are mainly limestone shell, while on the other side of the border there is Sonnenberg Sankt Paul with limestone soils and where one of the best Spätburgunder grows; Kammerberg with marl and clay-limestone soils and Rädling with fullness of limestone rock.
Which Pfalz producers do you recommend?
Among the countless producers that we find in Pfalz we will highlight those who, due to their distinctive character, produce wines with a very own and recognizable style; thus, starting with the northernmost part, Köehler Ruprecht in Kallstadt is perhaps the most traditional winemaker in the area, using only füders and native yeasts in their very long fermentations and aging. Wines for aging with a great expression of terroir; a little further south in the heart of Mittelhaardt we find the largest winery in quality and prestige of all Pfalz and one of the most reputable in Germany. We are obviously referring to Bürklin Wolf, a family winery founded in 1597 and since 1875 is family owned by the Wolf and Bürklin, currently managed by Bettina Bürklin von Guradze ex-wife of Christian von Guradze who in the 90's made the winery recover the prestige lost in recent decades. Based in Wachenheim produces, depending on the year, about 1,000,000 bottles where at the top we will find wines of the most appreciated Grosse Lage, those of the village of Forst (Kirchenstück, Jesuitengarten, Pechstein...); it is followed by Bassermann-Jordan which is located in the nearby village of Deisdesheim. The winery is owned by the wife of the recently deceased Achim Nieldelberger, manager of various advertising businesses and an important figure in the history of the winery since he was responsible for bringing the winery back into the same group with Von Winning and Von Buhl (formerly Dr. Deinhard); A. Christ mann is one of the references of the winery. Christmann is one of the most southern referents of the Mittelhaardt, in Gimmeldingen and with Stephen Christmann at the head, current national president of the VDP, is a small size winery with a production of about 120,000 bottles per year that has two payments classified Grosse Lage Idig in Königsbacher, offering more electric and delineated wines and Mandelgarten in Gimmeldingen with more spicy and cheerful wines.
Already on the Südliche Weinstrasse the reference is in Siebeldingen: Ökonomierat Rebholz is a winery owned by HansJörg Rebholz and his wife. HansJörg, or the architect of Pfalz as we also like to call him, works with mastery and balance each and every one of the varietals he cultivates, sparkling wines, dry white wines, red wines and sweet wines make up his wide range of wines that although they bear the mark of the south of Pfalz do not resist a tremendous freshness that vertebrates each and every one of his elaborations. Although it has several Grosse Lage, perhaps the most renowned for its exceptionality is Kastanienbusch, which stands at 300 meters above sea level and is one of the highest in Germany, which combined with a totally unique type of soil in Pfalz (red clay slate) offers us a record of Rieslings of perfect maturity but above all with a tremendous freshness even with warm vintages such as 2003. Finally, in the southernmost part of the Südliche Weinstrasse we find the best German red wine producer: Friedrich Becker, a small winery specialized in Spätburgunder with two of the best German Grosse Lage for red wines: Kammerberg and Sankt Paul. Although the winery was founded in 1973 (previously the grapes were sent to the cooperative), it is currently Fritz Becker, the second generation, who is in charge of the vineyard and winery, revolutionizing the panorama of German red wines, often anodyne due to their excess of wood and lack of good ripeness in the vineyard.
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Buy Wine from Pfalz
Welcometo the German Paradise!
Pfalz is the second largest Anbaugebiete (or German appellation of origin). With an area under cultivation of almost 25,000 hectares and almost 7,000 producers, it produces about 2.5 million hectoliters per year. It is divided into two Bereiche (sub-denominations): the northern half called Mittelhaardt that goes from Heidesheim in the north to Neudstadt and the southern half called Südliche Weinstrasse that goes from Kirrweiler in the northern part to Schweigen. The area also includes 26 Grosslagen (groups of vineyards) and 330 Einzellagen(individual vineyards).
The Grosslagen of the Mittelhaardt are: Pfaffengrund, Rebstöckel, Meerspinne, Hofstück, Mariengarten, Schnepfenflug, Schenkenböhl, Hochmess, Honigsäckel, Feuerberg, Kobnert, Rosenbühl, Schwarzerde, Höllenpfad, Grafenstück and Schnepfenflug von Zellertal; the Grosslagen of the Südliche Weinstrasse are: Guttenberg, Kloster Liebfrauenberg, Herrlich, Königsgarten, Bischofskreuz, Trappenberg, Ordensgut, Schloss Ludwighöhe and Mandelhöhe.
The Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) of Pfalz classified by the VDP are as follows: HIMMELSRECH MANDELPFAD, STEINBUCKEL, KIRSCHGARTEN, BURGWEG, WEILBERG ROTERDE, MARDELSKOPF HERRENBERG, VOGELSANG HERRENBERG, KANZEL HERRENBERG, MICHELSBERG, PECHSTEIN, JESUITENGARTEN, KIRCHENSTÜCK, FREUNDSTÜCK, UNGEHEUER, KALKOFEN, GRAINHÜBEL, KIESELBERG, LANGENMORGEN, HOHENMORGEN, PARADIESGARTEN, REITERPFAD, SPIESS, GAISBÖHL, IDIG, ÖLBERG , MANDELGARTEN, BREUMEL IN DEN MAUERN BÜRGERGARTEN, KALKBERG, MANDELBERG, MICHELSBERG, SCHLOSSGARTEN IM GOLDENEN JOST, SCHÄWER, SCHLANGENPFIFF MÜNZBERG, IM SONNENSCHEIN GANZ HORN, KASTANIENBUSCH KÖPPEL, MANDELBERG, SONNENBERG, KAMMERBERG SONNENBERG, SANKT PAUL SONNENBERG and RÄDLING SONNENBERG.
Although Pfalz is characterized by the production of dry white and red wines, we can also find interesting examples of sweet wines, mainly made with Riesling, Scheurebe and Muskateller. The style of Pfalz sweets is denser than those of the northern areas such as Nahe or Mosel. In turn, the dry wines, since the beginning of the 21st century, have been very clearly differentiated depending on their style.Since the beginning of the 21st century, dry wines have been very clearly differentiated depending on the climatic conditions of the year: in classic vintages with long ripening periods, abundant rainfall and not too high temperatures, the wines will be fresh and markedly mineral, with contained alcohol levels, where the fruit will not be the protagonist in their first years and where bottle ageing of at least five years will be necessary to be able to glimpse their potential (specifically in the Grosses Gewächs); on the contrary, in early maturity vintages, with periods of drought or heat wave, the wines will have a very evident fruit that will leave the minerality of the wines in the background, the perceived acidity will be very round and even somewhat short, a factor that will be accentuated by the high alcohol level of the wines; it is also frequent to observe in this type of vintages, an opulent botrytis versus the finesse and thinness of the same in classic vintages.
In the following table you can find a quick -generalist- description of the vintages in Pfalz at the beginning of this century:
| Year | Style |
| 2001 | Maturity and warmth but healthy grapes. Exceptional for dry wines. |
| 2002 | Classic, elegant and delicate. Ideal at all levels. Eiswein vintage. |
| 2003 | Warm and dry. Recommended in botrytized sweets. |
| 2004 | Classic. Good for dry wines and kabinett as well as Eiswein. |
| 2005 | Warm. Recommended in botrytized sweets. |
| 2006 | Warm and humid. |
| 2007 | Balanced. Recommended at all levels. |
| 2008 | Excellent in high-end dry wines and Eiswein. Riesling in its purest form. |
| 2009 | Warm. Recommended for dry and sweet basics. |
| 2010 | Extraordinary. Recommended in high-end dry wines. |
| 2011 | Warm. Recommended in basic dry and sweet wines. |
| 2012 | Excellent. Accessibility, cellaring and balance. |
The villages with the best historical reputation in winemaking are located in the Mittelhaardt district, the most important being Forst which comprises about 200 ha of vineyards located between the village and the forest; the best locations are at an altitude of between 120 and 150 meters above sea level. Some of the best German Grosse Lage such as Kirchenstück, Jesuitengarten, Pechstein and Ungeheuer are located in Forst, characterized by their geological composition of basalt and variegated sandstone. Slightly further south, in Deidesheim the soils are mostly limestone with basalt and bedrock where the most reputable Grosse Lage are: Hohenmorgen, Kalkofen, Langenmorgen, Leinhöhle and Grainhübel. Adjacent to Deidesheim is Ruppertsberg where sandstone and marl soils are combined; here the most renowned Grosse Lage are Gaisböhl (in monopoly of Bürklin Wolf), Reiterpfad and Spiess. The last most significant Mittelhaardt villages are Königsbach, Gimmeldingen and Haardt where we find clay-limestone and sandstone soils; the most important Grosse Lage of Könisbach are Idig and Ölberg; those of Gimmeldingen are Mandelgarten and Bienengarten; and finally Bürgergarten in Haardt.
The character of the wines from the southern district, the Südliche Weinstrasse, is always warmer, with even more maturity and exceptions. The first village we find is Kirrweiler, although the Grosse Lage Mandelberg, with loess soils, actually belongs to Duttweiler, with the rest of the unclassified vineyard belonging to Kirrweiler; in the neighboring village of Burrweiler we find the Grosse Lage Schwäwer, characterized by its gray slate soils, unique in Palatinate; in Siebeldingen we highlight Im Sonnenschein, with limestone shell soils and its neighbor Im Sonnenschein-Ganshorn with sandstone gravel soils, vineyards that since the unification law of 1971 have been together, so that today they are once again considered two separate vineyards due to the differences in geological composition and the different character of the wines of both; A little further south, in Birkweiler is one of the most authentic Grosse Lage of the Palatinate both for its geological composition and its altitude, one of the highest in Germany (300 meters), we are talking about Kastanienbusch, which in turn has a part that is specifically called Kastanienbusch "Köppel". The highest part is where Riesling traditionally grows and its soils are composed of red clayey slate, unique in Pfalz; the lower part is populated by the Spätburgunder that grows on the weathered sandstone soils; a second less known Grosse Lage of the same village is Mandelberg with marl soils; somewhat further south and west of Landau, in Leinweiler is the Grosse Lage Sonnenberg with clayey, calcareous and sandy loam soils; Finally, in the southernmost part and bordering Alsace, we find the beautiful village of Schweigen and Sonnenberg, a large Grosse Lage that is split and distributed along the Franco-German border; On the German side the soils are mainly limestone shell, while on the other side of the border there is Sonnenberg Sankt Paul with limestone soils and where one of the best Spätburgunder grows; Kammerberg with marl and clay-limestone soils and Rädling with fullness of limestone rock.
Which Pfalz producers do you recommend?
Among the countless producers that we find in Pfalz we will highlight those who, due to their distinctive character, produce wines with a very own and recognizable style; thus, starting with the northernmost part, Köehler Ruprecht in Kallstadt is perhaps the most traditional winemaker in the area, using only füders and native yeasts in their very long fermentations and aging. Wines for aging with a great expression of terroir; a little further south in the heart of Mittelhaardt we find the largest winery in quality and prestige of all Pfalz and one of the most reputable in Germany. We are obviously referring to Bürklin Wolf, a family winery founded in 1597 and since 1875 is family owned by the Wolf and Bürklin, currently managed by Bettina Bürklin von Guradze ex-wife of Christian von Guradze who in the 90's made the winery recover the prestige lost in recent decades. Based in Wachenheim produces, depending on the year, about 1,000,000 bottles where at the top we will find wines of the most appreciated Grosse Lage, those of the village of Forst (Kirchenstück, Jesuitengarten, Pechstein...); it is followed by Bassermann-Jordan which is located in the nearby village of Deisdesheim. The winery is owned by the wife of the recently deceased Achim Nieldelberger, manager of various advertising businesses and an important figure in the history of the winery since he was responsible for bringing the winery back into the same group with Von Winning and Von Buhl (formerly Dr. Deinhard); A. Christ mann is one of the references of the winery. Christmann is one of the most southern referents of the Mittelhaardt, in Gimmeldingen and with Stephen Christmann at the head, current national president of the VDP, is a small size winery with a production of about 120,000 bottles per year that has two payments classified Grosse Lage Idig in Königsbacher, offering more electric and delineated wines and Mandelgarten in Gimmeldingen with more spicy and cheerful wines.
Already on the Südliche Weinstrasse the reference is in Siebeldingen: Ökonomierat Rebholz is a winery owned by HansJörg Rebholz and his wife. HansJörg, or the architect of Pfalz as we also like to call him, works with mastery and balance each and every one of the varietals he cultivates, sparkling wines, dry white wines, red wines and sweet wines make up his wide range of wines that although they bear the mark of the south of Pfalz do not resist a tremendous freshness that vertebrates each and every one of his elaborations. Although it has several Grosse Lage, perhaps the most renowned for its exceptionality is Kastanienbusch, which stands at 300 meters above sea level and is one of the highest in Germany, which combined with a totally unique type of soil in Pfalz (red clay slate) offers us a record of Rieslings of perfect maturity but above all with a tremendous freshness even with warm vintages such as 2003. Finally, in the southernmost part of the Südliche Weinstrasse we find the best German red wine producer: Friedrich Becker, a small winery specialized in Spätburgunder with two of the best German Grosse Lage for red wines: Kammerberg and Sankt Paul. Although the winery was founded in 1973 (previously the grapes were sent to the cooperative), it is currently Fritz Becker, the second generation, who is in charge of the vineyard and winery, revolutionizing the panorama of German red wines, often anodyne due to their excess of wood and lack of good ripeness in the vineyard.