Germany (Weinstrasse 10, Deidesheim, DE 67146)
About an hours drive southwest from Frankfurt you are in the heart of the German wine route. Its center is Deidesheim home of the von Winning Winery. As the village has kept it original charm it has become a tourist destination for Germans and Foreigners alike.
In 1849 the winery started. It had a big advantage as they were right from the beginning proprietors of some of the most valuable and prestigious vinyards in and around Deidesheim the heart of the German Wineroute. In 1907 Leopold von Winning (Son in law of the famous Dr. Deinhard) started his quest in producing wines that would reflect the great terroir it was grown on. He was a founding member of the VDP still today a group of wineries from all over Germany that adhere to much higher standards than those of the common wine regulations. The picturesque Village of Deidesheim is also home of the “sister” wineries ``Bassermann Jordan`` and ``Reichsrat von Buhl`` which were all formed in 1849, when a much larger property was divided due to an inheritance. Only in 2007, the local entrepreneur Achim Niederberger, was able to purchase all 3 wineries and brought them again under one roof. As these wineries had operated for 150 years by themselves, they had developed their own stylistic and Mr. Niederberger was smart enough to keep it that way. At that time Von Winning had the poorest image of the three, as its former owners had produced mass wines under the name of Dr. Deinhard. Mr. Niederegger wanted to change that, as he had no interest in volume production of industrial wine. He changed the management and the focus, allowing them to start afresh under the brand von Winning. Today the young and ambitious team, around Stephan Attman, keeps the standards of the founding fathers alive without their lust for innovation. Just as an example, Von Winning was the first winery that would produce Riesling in big wooden Barrels of 1250 or 2500 liters, when everyone else was using steel tanks. Today almost all top wineries have adopted this method for their Grand Cru Rieslings. As owner of 25 different vineyards (the smallest only 3 ha) it has a variety of different terroirs which form the base of this extraordinary Winery Through the intensive manual work in the vineyards, healthy and aromatic grapes are harvested, that build the base for wines that are fermented free from mechanical interference. Unfiltered and without any artificial cooling, these wines ferment in wooden barrels. They keep their natural phenols, giving the wines their complex style. The wine is moved only once, when it is filled no pumps are used, to reduce stress to a minimum. All this is represented in a glass of von Winning wine, which gives it a distinctive style.
