Weingut Peter Wagner

To reach the top in a few years with your wines in an area like the Kaiserstuhl (Baden), where the competition is not small: that is a great achievement. Peter Wagner from Oberrotweil did it. He started a winery, made the first wine in 2017 and brought it to market in 2018. His wines quickly attracted attention for their fantastic quality. They score highly in leading guides such as those of Gerhard Eichelmann and the wine magazine Vinum.

Wagner owns vineyards on the slopes of the beautiful Kirchberg, Henkenberg, Eichberg and Käsleberg (all in Oberrotweiler) and on the Achkarrer Schlossberg. He has spätburgunder, grauburgunder and müller-thurgau, some of which are already quite old. All the vines he plants new come from France.

The soil on which the vines grow consists of a deep layer of loess in some of the plots, and in another part – where the best wines come from – of volcanic soil that also contains lime and iron. Wagner cultivates his soil biodynamically; there is a lot of greenery between the vines, with which he provides the soil with extra nutrients and contributes to biodiversity. A beautiful picture, especially in the summer, when flowers bloom. But it is hard work: some of the slopes are so steep that the vines are planted on terraces.

Peter is a clear-cut designer when it comes to his wines. All wines are fermented until dry and generally contain less than 1 gram of residual sugar per litre. The white wines mature for a long time on the yeast; some of the Spätburgunder goes into large wooden barrels. In order to preserve the optimum flavour in his wine, there is no fining and only filtering when really necessary, and the amount of added sulphites is also minimal. Peter Wagner is self-confident and knows exactly what he wants. We know that too: we want to enjoy his wonderful, precise wines, which are distinguished by their taste, freshness and pure zest for life.