This historic estate, long managed by the legendary and larger-than-life Bernd Philippi, was purchased in 2009 and since 2011 has been in the dedicated hands of Dominik Sona. He and his cellar master Franziska Schmitt are intensely hard-working and strictly honor the arch-traditional style of this beautiful, centuries-old cellar. 

Koehler-Ruprecht is known for broad, rich and minerally Rieslings, Pinots and Chardonnays sourced from two locations in Kallstadt: the Steinacker (sandstone and lœss) and Saumagen (lœss, marl, and limestone) vineyards. The wines are spontaneously fermented on their own yeasts and aged entirely in large, neutral stück (1200L oval casks) and halbstück (600L). No chaptalization, no enzymes, and no manipulations of any kind are practiced here. 

These are extremely old-school wines from an estate making trocken (dry) wines before it was trendy. In fact, the estate cleaves to the old labeling practice of putting both the pradikät and the trocken designation on each wine (e.g., Auslese Trocken), which the VDP no longer allows; it was one reason they left the consortium after 80 years of membership! Koehler-Ruprecht’s wines are released conspicuously late and are best enjoyed with bottle age, particularly the “R” reserve wines. It is safe to say there are no other wines like these made in Germany—or anywhere.

For more information, click here.

There is also an excellent promotional video here with beautiful footage of harvest in Kallstadt as well as some comments from winemaker Dominik Sona and cellarmaster Johannes Lochner.