Summary
Weingut Aufricht is one of the largest and most decorated wineries on Lake Constance. The family estate of brothers Robert and Manfred Aufricht sits in Stetten near Meersburg, right in the middle of a conservation area – the vineyards slope down from here to the shore of the lake. Across around 50 hectares the estate focuses above all on the Pinot family: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc, rounded out by Chardonnay, Auxerrois and a Sauvignon Blanc that Aufricht was the very first estate in the region to plant. The mild lake climate and soils shaped by molasse and moraine gravel give the wines an unmistakable freshness and elegance.
History
The estate's roots reach back to the post-war years. Josef Aufricht came from the Batschka region and found a new home on Lake Constance after the Second World War. Below the village of Stetten near Meersburg he built up his own winegrowing business. A decisive step towards independence came in 1986, when the family left the local cooperative – on entirely friendly terms – to make and market its own wines.
Josef Aufricht stayed active into old age and passed away in 2015. His sons Robert and Manfred Aufricht have long run the winery, building it over the decades into one of the region's leading addresses. Today the next generation, Sophia and Johannes Aufricht, is already part of the business – a true family estate spanning three generations.
Location & Terroir
Aufricht lies in Germany's southernmost wine region, in the middle of the Meersburg conservation area. The vineyards stretch across the slopes between Meersburg and Hagnau and in places run right down to the shore of Lake Constance. This closeness to the water shapes the terroir: the large lake acts as a heat store, softens temperature swings and gives the vines extra light through the reflection off the water's surface.
The soils are calcareous and sandy-loamy weathered soils, interspersed with molasse and moraine gravel – a legacy of the Ice Age glaciers that shaped the Lake Constance landscape. These lean, free-draining soils force the vines to root deeply and produce mineral-driven, finely structured wines. The cool but sunny lake climate ensures long ripening periods and the fresh acidity that is typical of good Lake Constance wines.
Style & Philosophy
The Pinot family is at the heart of the work. Pinot Noir – traditionally at home on Lake Constance – yields elegant, more slender than powerful reds at Aufricht, while Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay deliver substantial yet fresh whites. The wines are mostly made dry and rely on clarity, fruit and finesse rather than opulence.
A hallmark is the Sauvignon Blanc: Aufricht was the first estate in the Lake Constance region to introduce the variety, writing a piece of local wine history in the process. The range is rounded out by Auxerrois, Riesling, Müller-Thurgau and specialities such as Frühburgunder or Lemberger. In the vineyard the estate works close to nature – part of the area is farmed organically, herbicides are avoided, and hedges and fruit trees encourage biodiversity between the rows.
Notable Vineyards & Wines
The vineyards are spread across several Meersburg single sites around the estate. Among the best known are:
- Sängerhalde – one of the estate's core sites, key to the top Pinots
- Fohrenberg – a steep slope with gravelly, calcareous soils
- Chorherrenhalde, Mocken, Kriesemann and Trielberg – further Meersburg sites in the estate
These sites produce the estate's top wines, from single-vineyard Pinot Noirs to substantial white Pinots. Characterful Sauvignon Blancs and a fine range of sparkling wines round out the broad portfolio.
Awards
Aufricht is one of the best-known names in Lake Constance winegrowing well beyond regional borders and is regularly given high marks by the trade press. In the leading wine guides the estate ranks among Germany's best producers. In 2018 Aufricht topped the bonvinitas ratings with an outstanding average result – proof of consistently high quality across the whole range. Few other estates on Lake Constance have been showered with awards to a comparable extent over the years.