Summary
Griesel & Compagnie is one of Germany's most acclaimed sparkling wine houses – remarkable, given that it was only founded in 2013. In Bensheim on the Hessische Bergstraße, one of Germany's smallest wine regions, it produces sparkling wines in the cellars of a former state winery, consistently made by traditional bottle fermentation and matured on the lees for a long time. The style is shaped by cellar master Niko Brandner, who came from banking and learned his craft with German sparkling pioneer Volker Raumland, among others. With its very first vintages Griesel catapulted itself into the German sparkling elite and has been named sparkling wine producer of the year several times.
History
The name Griesel goes back to Grieselstraße in Bensheim, where the historic building of the former Hessian state winery stands. In its old vaulted cellars the entrepreneurial Streit family launched the sparkling wine house Griesel & Compagnie in 2013 – picking up the town's long sparkling-wine tradition. As operations manager and cellar master they brought in Niko Brandner, then only 30, a career changer who had given up his career as a banker, studied viticulture and trained with the renowned sparkling pioneer Volker Raumland.
From the outset Brandner insisted on uncompromising quality in the bottle fermentation. The early vintages already caused a stir on the German sparkling scene, and the young house established itself as a fixture within just a few years. At first the grapes were bought from grower friends; today Griesel farms its own vineyards on the Bergstraße and steadily expands its own access to fruit.
Location & Terroir
The Hessische Bergstraße is, with just a few hundred hectares, one of Germany's smallest wine regions and is often called the country's "spring garden" because the vines bud especially early here. The mild climate at the edge of the Upper Rhine plain, sheltered by the Odenwald, offers good conditions for the fresh, finely structured style that good sparkling wine needs.
Griesel sources grapes from Bergstraße sites, including its own parcels in the Auerbach vineyards of Höllberg and Fürstenlager. For bottle fermentation, cool soils, moderate ripeness and lively acidity are decisive – qualities that the region and its varieties such as Chardonnay, Weißburgunder and Spätburgunder deliver well.
Style & Philosophy
At the core is traditional bottle fermentation on the Champagne model: the second fermentation takes place in the bottle, in which the wines then mature for many months to several years on the lees. This long lees ageing gives the wines their fine bubbles, creamy texture and the typical notes of brioche and nut.
Griesel finishes most of its wines very dry – as Brut, Extra Brut or completely undosed as Brut Nature. The focus is on precision, freshness and terroir rather than generous dosage. Chardonnay and Spätburgunder form the backbone of many cuvées, complemented by single-variety interpretations of Riesling, Weißburgunder and occasionally Pinot Meunier.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range is clearly tiered by quality levels:
- Tradition – the accessible entry line, including a Riesling, a Rosé and a Blanc de Noirs
- Prestige – the upper line with longer lees ageing, for example the Pinot Blanc Prestige Brut Nature or Chardonnay and Pinot Noir sparkling wines
- Single-variety and site-focused interpretations from the Auerbach vineyards of Höllberg and Fürstenlager
The Prestige wines regularly rank among the highest-rated German bottle-fermented sparkling wines and show what the Bergstraße is capable of in the sparkling category.
Awards
Griesel & Compagnie has been named sparkling wine producer of the year several times (including at the German Sekt Award) and regularly ranks in the top group of the Falstaff sparkling guide, at times with scores around 95 points. Within just a few years the house has thus established itself as one of the first addresses for top German sparkling wine – a remarkable rise for a young house from one of the country's smallest wine regions.