Pinot Noir sites
The grapes for our single-site Pinot Noir are hand-harvested selectively at different times in order to pick only the ones that are perfectly ripe – this means picking neither too late nor too early. The grapes are then spontaneously fermented in wooden fermenters or open wooden casks, after which the wines mature for 18 to 24 months in French barrique barrels.
Honigsack
German Pinot Noir clones are cultivated on the limestone and lime marl soils of the terraced vineyards below Herxheim. The site Honigsack looks back on a long tradition of producing parcel-specific Pinot Noir. In especially good years we produce a reserve quality with longer maturation times in the barrel and bottle.
Steinacker
As the name (literally stone field) suggests, the topsoil of this vineyard consists of thousands of big and small pieces of limestone. Whereas Pinot Noir used to be grown in the best and therefore warmest sites, we chose Steinacker, one of our coolest sites, as a location. In times of climate change our grapes can remain on the vines one to two weeks longer. This leads to a wonderful fruity acidity and, as a consequence, maximum elegance in the wine. We planted over 8000 Massal Selection vines from Burgundy per hectare to increase the competition between the vines.
Am Felsenberg
The vineyard parcels Felsenberg-Terrassen, Felsenberg and Am Felsenberg were considered Herxheim’s best vineyard sites for centuries. They are situated in the nature reserve Felsenberg on massive limestone rocks. Poor soils and small yields made most winegrowers stop farming there. There are only 2500 squaremetres of vineyard acreage left in the parcel Am Felsenberg, planted with premium-quality vines from Burgundy.
Pinot Blanc sites
Steig
The vines in our site Steig were planted over 40 years ago by Oliver’s grandfather. They grow on lime marl soils south of Bissersheim. The wines from this site combine the chewiness of best Pinots with a racy elegance and a mineral character.
Kirchenstück
The site Lage Kirchenstück is located above Herxheim bordering the outskirts of the village. The soil consists of massive limestone. Young wines from the Kirchenstück site often present themselves untamed with a lot of tension and a mineral character.
Riesling sites
Goldberg
The Goldberg site is situated on the hilltop that connects the major part of the Kirchheim and Bissersheim vineyards. The vines grow in a south-faced parcel on limestone soils. They were planted there over 40 years ago and therefore count amongst the oldest Riesling vineyards in the Pfalz.