Summary
Weingut Ziereisen in Efringen-Kirchen is one of the most talked-about cult addresses in the Baden wine region. In the southern Markgräflerland, just a stone's throw from the Swiss border, Hanspeter and Edeltraud Ziereisen have grown their estate since 1991 from a tiny parental mixed farm to around 21 hectares today. The estate became famous above all for refining the often mocked Gutedel into a great, age-worthy white wine – the Gutedel „10 hoch 4“ was the first of its kind to earn 100 Gault&Millau points. Add to that powerful Pinot Noirs and a rare German Syrah. Almost everything is deliberately sold as „Landwein“, beyond the VDP and official vineyard predicates.
History
The estate's roots lie in a small agricultural mixed farm that Hanspeter Ziereisen's parents ran in Efringen-Kirchen – with just about half a hectare of vines. Hanspeter Ziereisen himself first trained as a carpenter and came to wine as a largely self-taught winemaker. In 1991 he made the decision to commit fully to building his own winery.
Over the following decades the estate grew step by step through purchases and leasing to around 21 hectares today. Together with his wife Edeltraud, Hanspeter Ziereisen turned what had once been a part-time operation into an internationally acclaimed cult address. Since the 2010s at the latest, the estate has been regarded as one of Germany's most exciting – not least because it has redefined the region and the Gutedel grape.
Location & Terroir
Efringen-Kirchen sits in the southernmost tip of the Markgräflerland, the warmest corner of Baden, close to Basel and the point where three countries meet. The climate is mild and sunny, the growing season long – ideal conditions for fully ripe yet still fresh wines.
The heart of the vineyards is the Efringer Ölberg. Its calcareous soils of Jura limestone and loess loam are decisive; in the subsoil you often find the semi-precious stone jasper (Jaspis), after which Ziereisen names his best wines. The combination of limestone, warmth and old vines gives the wines their minerality, drive and ageing potential. Instead of official single vineyards, the wines preserve old field names such as Steingrüble, Tschuppen, Schulen, Rhini or Gestad.
Style & Philosophy
The estate's signature is deliberately low-intervention and patient. The grapes are fermented spontaneously with the vineyard's own yeasts, and the wines then mature over a long period – often 12 to 22 months – on the fine lees in small and large wooden barrels. They are usually bottled unfined and unfiltered, so as to take as little as possible of the wine's substance.
Central to it all is Ziereisen's stance on Gutedel: the variety, widespread in Baden and often dismissed as light and simple, is interpreted here as a great, dense and age-worthy white. Equally important is the Pinot Noir, which takes up about half of the vineyard area and is made in a powerful, Burgundian-inspired style. Finally, the Syrah from the Gestad is a rarity – one of the most serious examples of this variety in Germany. The consistent refusal of the VDP and official predicates is programmatic: Ziereisen declares his wines almost throughout as „Landwein“.
Notable Vineyards & Wines
The range runs from accessible estate wines to the rare „Jaspis“ wines at the top. Among the best-known wines and field names are:
- Gutedel „10 hoch 4“ (Jaspis) – the estate's cult wine, named after the number of yeast cells per millilitre
- Gutedel „Steingrüble“ – a deep, mineral Gutedel from limestone soil
- Pinot Noir „Rhini“ and „Schulen“ – powerful, long-lived red wines
- Syrah „Gestad“ – a rare, spicy German Syrah
- Pinot Blanc „Lügle“ and further wines under old field names
The „Jaspis“ line stands in each case for the estate's most concentrated and longest-lived wines.
Awards
Ziereisen's breakthrough into the very top came with Gutedel: in 2015 the wine guide Gault&Millau rated the Gutedel „10 hoch 4“ as the first Gutedel ever to earn the top score of 100 points – a bombshell for a hitherto underrated variety. In 2019 Gault&Millau admitted the estate to the exclusive „World Class“ category, to which only around 20 wineries in Germany belong. To this day, Ziereisen ranks among the most sought-after and highly rated producers in Baden and has done much to put the Markgräflerland and the Gutedel back on the map of great German wine.