Summary
Weingut Raddeck lies in Nierstein, probably the best-known wine village in Rheinhessen, and farms vines in the core sites of the famous Roter Hang. The family estate converted to organic viticulture in the early 2000s and has been certified since 2003 – at a time when organic farming was still the exception in Rheinhessen. At the centre stands Riesling grown on red-brown slate and claystone, joined by Pinot Blanc, Silvaner, Pinot Noir and a broad range of sparkling wines, Secco and sweet specialities. The estate is run today by Anna-Karina and Stefan Raddeck.
History
The Raddeck family has been rooted in Nierstein viticulture for many generations; the estate itself points to a family tradition of around 300 years. It has been run as an independent wine estate since about 1900 – for decades in the mix typical of Rheinhessen: bulk wine, bottled wine and direct sales.
The decisive turn came with the generation of Hans and Birgit Raddeck. When their son Stefan did his winemaking apprenticeship at an organic producer, he brought the idea of organic viticulture home with him. The family converted the estate and has worked to certified organic guidelines since 2003. Stefan Raddeck returned to the estate in 2006 after finishing his training; Anna-Karina Raddeck joined in 2009, having gained experience in New Zealand and on the Hessische Bergstrasse among other places.
A visible sign of that development is the winery building opened in 2009, set among the vines of the Paterberg site above the village with a wide view over Nierstein and the Rhine. Cellar, tasting room and sales moved straight into the vineyard – a step that also changed the way the estate welcomes guests.
Location & Terroir
Nierstein sits on the Rhine bend between Mainz and Worms, where the river swings north. The water acts as a heat store, softens late frosts and keeps the air moving, while the Odenwald shelters the region to the east. Rheinhessen is therefore one of the driest and warmest growing regions in Germany.
The real star, though, is the geology. The Roter Hang is a steep river front facing east and south-east, made of red-brown slate and claystone from the Rotliegend – rock some 280 million years old that shapes viticulture almost nowhere else in Germany. The dark soils warm up quickly, hold that heat into the night and give the Rieslings an unmistakable spicy, smoky note with a fine salty edge.
Directly opposite lies the Paterberg, where pale limestone and marl dominate. That combination allows the estate two very different signatures: the cool, spicy, taut wines from the Roter Hang and the broader, creamier wines from limestone.
Style & Philosophy
The estate's guiding idea is to make fine wines in harmony with nature. In the vineyard that means permanent cover crops between the rows, no herbicides or synthetic mineral fertilisers, encouraging soil life and keeping yields moderate. The aim is a vine that stays in balance even through dry summers.
Cellar work is rather restrained. The white wines ferment slowly and cool, mostly in stainless steel, then spend a longer period on the fine lees – which builds texture without covering the fruit. The reds, above all Pinot Noir, get an extended maceration and mature in large wooden casks or barriques. The range is clearly tiered: litre wines and estate wines for everyday drinking, then village wines, Réserve bottlings and the single-vineyard wines at the top.
The breadth is striking: alongside dry whites the estate offers sparkling wine and Secco, rosé, reds, alcohol-free alternatives and, again and again, sweet specialities from botrytis-affected grapes.
Notable Sites & Wines
The heart of the business is the single vineyards of Nierstein, which differ clearly in style:
- Pettenthal – the steep, cool east-facing core of the Roter Hang; especially taut, mineral Rieslings
- Ölberg – south-facing and warmer; wines with more power and riper fruit
- Orbel – in the south-western part of the Roter Hang, spicy and well balanced
- Heiligenbaum – a classic Nierstein site with an accessible, juicy style
- Paterberg – pale limestone marl around the winery, the base for rounded whites and Pinot varieties
- Schloss Schwabsburg – the site around the castle in the Nierstein district of Schwabsburg
The single-vineyard Rieslings are made dry and show the difference between the soils very directly. Alongside them the Pinot family is a house classic, as are the cuvées released under their own names as Réserve or Trilogie.
Awards
After Stefan Raddeck took over in 2006, the estate quickly found its way into the leading German wine guides. Gault&Millau listed it with two grapes in 2017, and Eichelmann rates the collection as very good, praising above all the consistently high base level and the clearly differentiated single-vineyard Rieslings. The reds earned a distinction at the Deutscher Rotweinpreis run by the magazine Vinum in 2017.
Another trophy comes from the organic side: at the international wine award of BioFach in 2009, a Huxelrebe Beerenauslese from the 2007 vintage won gold in the dessert wine category. As early as 2008 the town of Nierstein had named the estate its winery of the year. More important than individual trophies, though, is the role the estate plays for organic viticulture in Rheinhessen: Raddeck is one of the producers that showed early on that organic farming and great vineyard sites are no contradiction.