Summary
Weingut Gebrüder Mathis in Merdingen is one of the most exciting young addresses on the Tuniberg in Baden. On around 15 hectares of Jurassic limestone it produces mainly Burgundian-variety wines – led by Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir), plus Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), Weißburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Chardonnay and Auxerrois. Founded in the 1970s by the Mathis brothers under the name "Kalkbödele", the estate was one of the area's early barrique pioneers. Since 2020 Severin Stich and Sabeth Sedlatschek have run the business and given it a new signature: spontaneously fermented, dry, finer and more fruit-driven – and plot by plot.
History
The estate's story begins in the 1970s. The brothers Bernhard, Franz and Paul Mathis turned family land on the Tuniberg into an independent winery and named it "Kalkbödele" – after the limestone soil that shapes everything here. The brothers were among the first in the area to age Burgundian varieties in French barriques. At the time this was still unusual for Baden wine, and it quickly earned the house a reputation as a Pinot specialist.
For many years Sonja Mathis-Stich managed the business. In 2020 her son Severin Stich took over together with his partner Sabeth Sedlatschek. Both studied at Geisenheim. With the generational change, the family name "Gebrüder Mathis" moved to the fore, the conversion to organic viticulture began, and the wines gained their own modern style.
Location & Terroir
The Tuniberg is a small, elongated ridge in the Upper Rhine plain west of Freiburg, between the Kaiserstuhl and the Black Forest. Unlike the volcanic Kaiserstuhl, it consists mainly of Jurassic limestone, partly covered with loess. The estate's vines grow around Merdingen on these limestone soils. They store water well and give the Burgundian varieties freshness and a cool, mineral structure.
The climate on the Upper Rhine is warm and sunny. On the Tuniberg, however, a strong wind often blows, keeping the grapes healthy and slightly delaying ripening. The winemakers like to compare the conditions with Burgundy: limestone, wind and a long ripening period produce wines that live from tension rather than power.
Style & Philosophy
Severin Stich and Sabeth Sedlatschek describe their cellar work as deliberately "low tech". All wines are fermented spontaneously with natural yeasts, made dry and mostly bottled unfined. A large share of production matures in wooden barrels from French coopers. Each plot is vinified separately so that the differences between the individual parcels on the Tuniberg stay recognisable.
Compared with the past, the wines have become finer and more fruit-driven. The founders' barrique tradition remains, but steps back behind fruit and limestone. In the vineyard the couple relies on organic farming and more biodiversity: hedgerows, insect hotels and nesting boxes are meant to make the vineyard monoculture more natural, with healthy soils at the centre. A considerable share of the wines is exported, including to Japan, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range revolves around the Pinot family. Red varieties cover more than half of the area, above all Spätburgunder. Alongside there are smaller shares of varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Lagrein. Among the best-known wines are:
- Spätburgunder Kalkbödele – the wine that carries on the old estate name
- Spätburgunder Rosenloch – from vines planted around 1980 with old Freiburg clones
- Spätburgunder Hohrain – from vines of the early 1990s, predominantly French Pinot clones
- Grauburgunder, Weißburgunder and Chardonnay from the limestone of the Tuniberg
- Creative single bottlings such as Cirque des Levures
The top Spätburgunders mature for a long time in barrique and show how much depth the Tuniberg limestone can deliver.
Awards
The estate is listed in wine guides such as Falstaff. In the trade press and among wine merchants the couple is seen as part of a "young avant-garde" on the Tuniberg. More than individual prizes, what counts is their reputation for giving a rather underrated corner of Baden more profile with clearly defined, plot-specific Pinots.
