Germany ( Marktstraße 45, 67489 Kirrweiler )
The winery is located in Kirrweiler right next to the German wine route, in the heart of the Palatine an hour south west of Frankfurt. The mild climate makes it possible to grow figs, almonds even Kiwis. We started business with Christian Hartmann because his wine represents the region like no other. His wines are not pretentious, well made at a very fair price. He doesn’t aim to become a Big House but his constant quality becomes more and more recognized as his Merlot rosé won best rose in 2017.
The winery started at the beginning of the last century as a “Straußenwirtschaft“ or „Besenwirtschaft” a very particular German form of a small gastronomy which is also found in Austria. Local farmers were granted an allowance to sell wine and home cooked food for a limited number of days to the public. No further licence was required and no extra tax was levied. Wine was served directly from the barrel into small carafes, nothing fancy. To recognise which farm was open a bouquet of flowers (Strauß) or a broom (Besen) was hung visibly at the door to attract customers. At that time the farm produced potatoes and sugar beets and in the shed was a cow and a pig. The great grandfather also had a hand in the vine refining, taking older wines and grafting another varietal on the roots of the existing plant. They were still not producing wine commercially apart for self-consumption. Only in the 1970s the father of the current owner Christian started to produce wine for sale and, as a novelty, filled it in 0.75 litre bottles. He sold the wine mainly to tobacco and asparagus farmers in the Heidelberg region. A clientele that is still loyal today. The 80’s brought more tourism to the area and so the market expanded with a tasting facility. Christian’s father died very young so then he basically was head of the family at 14. Now at age 33 he runs the whole business with his mother at his side who is in charge of the tasting room.
Christian Hartmann took over the winery at a very young age. He was still an apprentice when his father died. He worked at several local wineries while also helping his mother to keep the farm afloat. He learnt winemaking at Pfaffmann and after this he went to Bad Kreuznach to study the theory of winemaking. With him at the helm a lot changed. The 16 ha of wine are still dominated by Riesling but he changed old local varietals and started cultivating Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and burgundy grapes. He also planted Merlot from which he produces an extraordinary rosé. We tasted the wine in a local restaurant while on tour in the region and we were smitten by the elegance and youthfulness of this wine. We took note of the label and next day we met him and the rest is history. His wines are all made in the traditional tank fermentation, no frills and very little sulphur is used and so they are very drinkable. All that work didn’t go unnoticed and in 2017 he was nominated best upcoming winemaker of the Palatine which put him nationally on the map.