“We want to hold our grapes in our hands before they become wine”, Erik Riffel
The quartzite soil, which is the result of tectonic shifts, has a special ability to store heat, which has a lasting effect on the grapes. Charged with all the warmth of the sun, this leads to intense ripeness which, in combination with the soil, produces particularly straightforward and mineral wines.
“The basis of a wine is laid in the vineyard and so the quality and character of the wine is already decided there”, Erik Riffel
It is a widespread phenomenon that opposites attract. And here too, between the Nahe and the Rhine, the climatic conditions could not be more different and influence the character and flavour of the vines growing on the former riverbed.
“Every wine has its own melody”, Erik Riffel
Erik Riffel did not always see eye to eye with his father either. A winemaker through and through, he initially had little sympathy for his son’s “new-fangled tendencies”. Erik began early on to concern himself with organic viticulture. His credo: you can only work with nature, not against it. A certified organic farm for over 15 years, biodynamic since 2012. Herbs between the vines to support biodiversity, earthworms and compost strengthen the vineyard’s immune system, explains Erik Riffel. An extra effort that you can taste. Erik’s father also realised that today. Some things just take time. A good wine, for example. Because it is only through the long maturing period that the wines develop their very personal character.
Every wine has its own melody, enthuses Erik Riffel, who likes to retreat to the wine cellar on Sundays to listen to the wine ferment. Every barrel sounds different and it is precisely this special and unique flavour that makes it so special.
The amber-coloured Chardonnay sparkles in the glass with Erik’s eyes as he talks about his vineyards. Kirchberg, Osterberg and Scharlachberg, which owes its name to the scarlet colour of the iron oxide-rich soil. But his eyes light up even more when he talks about his wife Carolin. She is not only the love of his youth, he now cultivates the 18 hectares of vineyards in Bingen am Rhein with her. The two are now the fourth generation to cultivate Riesling and Burgundy varieties – you can taste the terroir and the love they put into winemaking in every drop.
“We make wines at the highest level. Wines that we ourselves enjoy and that reflect our terroir”, Carolin Riffel
Consistent hand-picking, uncompromising selection and long maturation periods make Riffel wines what they are. The essence of bygone eras, created from shifts in the earth and vines that thrive in harmony with nature on the former Nahe riverbed and are allowed to develop their full flavour on the soil, which is aerated by a variety of greenery – and will continue to do so in the future.
Time is relative in viticulture. The Romans were already cultivating wine in Bingen am Rhein – that not only rhymes, but is a piece of contemporary history that Erik looks back on with pride. His single-vineyard wines are matured in traditional barrels made from local oak. The reserves are aged even longer in small barriques and regularly batonnaged.
WE ARE NOT LOCATED JUST ANYWHERE.
WE ARE LOCATED ON TWO RIVERS.
ON THE NAH AND ON THE RHINE.
He is particularly proud of the “prime piece of land”, as he calls it. In 1248, the Eberbach monastery acquired the steepest site in the region. On Saint Catherine’s Day, 25 November, the rent was demanded from the farmers. The situation was to pay off, because in 1904 the so-called Katherinnenzins-Auslese from 1900 was for sale at the German Food & Wine Exhibition in St. Louis in the USA.
Today, these 1.2 hectares in the north-westernmost corner of Rheinhessen are Erik Riffel’s centrepiece. The density and complexity of the Nahe and the slender elegance of the Rhine come together here to create delicate, mineral wines with a sunny intensity bursting with fruit and a creamy finesse, especially in the Réserve wines.
Word has got around in the meantime, even if Carolin and Erik Riffel tend to serve class rather than mass. The numerous awards they have received prove them right. For example, their 2022 Scharlachberg Riesling is in the top 10 of James Suckling’s Top 100 Wines of Germany. And will be a guest at Pro Wine in Shanghai in November 2024. The upscale gastronomy industry has already cast an eye on the Riffel winery both nationally and internationally – because the creations are excellent accompaniments to food. For the brave: try the Scharlachberger Riesling Sekt Brut Nature with an Asian dish. A poem.
Under rock is based on 400 million years of geological history. Quartzite is the lifeblood of our wine.
In Munich’s “Szenedrinks” – an institution in Fraunhoferstraße – the shelves are lined with magnum bottles from the Riffels winery. And it was here in Munich, on the Olympiaberg, that Carolin and Erik fell in love after a wine tasting. For those who think it couldn’t be more kitsch: the logo that adorns every bottle of wine shows a sketch of the tower room at the winery. On one of their trips, a Chinese man told them that this “symbol” stands for the moon in Chinese. And as the winery is a biodynamic operation that works in harmony with the phases of the moon, a feeling spread that sometimes everything really should just be the way it is.
And yet Carolin and Erik say we are not clairvoyants – we only know one thing – a glass of wine can be an incredible pleasure.
Contact
Weingut Riffel
Mühlweg 14A
55411 Bingen am Rhein Email: service@weingut-riffel.de
Tel.: +49 6721 994690 Web: www.weingut-riffel.de
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Would you like a bottle from the Riffel winery and are in Munich? Then off to Szenedrinks!
