Summary
There is more than one wine estate called Braun – this profile covers Wein- und Sektgut Braun in Meckenheim in the Pfalz, the best-known estate of that name. Across around 40 hectares in Meckenheim and Ellerstadt it makes wines from an unusually broad range of grape varieties, with Riesling and Weißburgunder (Pinot Blanc) at the core, each accounting for roughly a quarter of the portfolio. The estate is run by the brothers Michael and Martin Braun. As the name suggests, this is not a still-wine producer alone: alongside the still wines, an in-house Sekt production is a fixed part of the business.
History
The estate's story is one of the more unusual ones in the Pfalz. In Ellerstadt, a Braun family began bottling and selling its own wine as early as the 1950s – at a time when many Pfalz growers still delivered their entire crop to co-operatives and the cask trade. In Meckenheim, a second Braun family farmed its own vines, unrelated to the first.
In the mid-1970s the two identically named estates merged – a step that still shapes the structure of the business today: the vineyards lie in both villages, while the seat of the estate is Meckenheim. No exact founding year can be given reliably for the merged operation; the sources agree only on the middle of that decade.
Today the brothers Michael and Martin Braun run the house. Michael Braun has been in the business since 1995 and is responsible for the wines as cellar master; Martin Braun joined in 2018 and looks after marketing and sales. The new tasting room was built in the same year, its furniture made from oak and old barrel staves from their grandparents' generation.
Location & Terroir
Meckenheim and Ellerstadt lie in the Upper Rhine Plain, on the eastern edge of the German Wine Route, between the Rhine and the Palatinate Forest. That position brings one of Germany's mildest climates: up to around 2,000 hours of sunshine a year, mild winters and long, warm autumns. The forest shelters the vines to the west, while the open plain provides warmth and reliable ripening.
This climate explains the estate's wide varietal spread: alongside Riesling and the Pinot family, heat-loving varieties such as Gewürztraminer, Cabernet Sauvignon and Blaufränkisch also ripen dependably here. No reliable information exists on the soils of the individual vineyard sites – the estate describes its wines through variety and ageing rather than geology.
Style & Philosophy
The range is built in three tiers, and that framework is also the estate's quality philosophy. The base consists of everyday and litre wines – uncomplicated, drinkable wines for daily enjoyment. Above them sit the “Individualisten” for special occasions, in which the individual varieties are drawn out more clearly. At the top stands the premium line “Unikate”, partly aged in barrique.
The varietal spread is deliberately broad. Among the whites, Riesling and Weißburgunder dominate with roughly a quarter of the range each, joined by Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and – a rarity in the Pfalz – Grüner Veltliner. In red there are Spätburgunder, St. Laurent, Blaufränkisch, Cabernet Sauvignon and Portugieser. Rounding it all off is the estate's own Sekt production, which gives the business its double name.
Notable Sites & Wines
The vines are spread across four named single vineyards in the two home villages:
- Meckenheimer Spielberg – the estate's best-known site
- Meckenheimer Neuberg
- Ellerstadter Kirchenstück
- Ellerstadter Bubeneck
The best-documented top wine is the dry Riesling from the Meckenheimer Spielberg, which regularly scores well in the wine guides. Alongside it, the dry Riesling “Auf der Höhe” is a flagship of the house.
Awards
The estate collects its scores above all with Riesling. The 2024 Riesling “Auf der Höhe” trocken received 89 points at Meininger's Best of Riesling 2025. The 2021 Riesling Meckenheimer Spielberg was rated 85 points in Eichelmann 2023 and 88 points in the Vinum Weinguide Deutschland 2023. On top of that come regularly awarded wines at the regional and DLG competitions.
If you want to experience the estate itself, there is a fixed window for it: from the second week of September into the third week of October, Braun opens its annual Straußwirtschaft, the traditional Pfalz grower's tavern.