If you had told the Swiss farmer that he would grow up to be a winemaker (and a mighty fine one, at that) he would never have believed you.
Perhaps you too have a story of a wine that redefined your relationship with oenology, but Daniel Vollenweider’s steered him down a clear path. He was so impressed with a 1990 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese from Egon Muller, that he knew right away he wanted to make wines in the same region and style.
After an internship at Dr. Loosen (where he met YiXin and worked together in both the vinyards and the cellar), Daniel made his own way with a small parcel of the Wolfer Goldgrube, a forgotten vineyard. His first vintage was in the year 2000, which saw a lot of rain and was widely considered a ‘difficult’ vintage. Undaunted, since then he has expanded to over 5 hectares, including parcels in Kröver Steffensberg and Trabener Schimbock.
His winemaking philosophy is simple and terroir-focused; he searches diligently for the best plots, which in this part of the world means steep, south-facing slopes close to the river. He prefers to farm old vines, and much of his intervention in the vineyard is by hand.
To maximise ripeness and obtain concentrated flavours in his wines, Daniel prefers to harvest slightly later than his neighbours, and often collects lower yields. His more recent vintages have tended towards drier styles of Riesling.
If you are a private or corporate customer, please hop on over to our e-commerce site Analogue Wine Merchant where you can see availability of this producer’s wines and place an order.