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Weingut Prinz is a family-owned and operated winery focused on producing high-quality wines in Germany's prestigious Rheingau wine-producing region. Our host, Sabine Prinz, greeted us upon our arrival and escorted us to the private tasting room in her cellar. We spent the next two hours learning about the family’s grape growing and wine production methods while sampling ten wines representative of the Weingut Prinz range of wines. We are incredibly grateful for Sabine's generosity in opening so many bottles for us!
The Prinz family owns 11.1 hectares (over 27 acres) of vineyards in Rheingau, producing 90% Riesling from the harvested grapes. Weingut Prinz leverages the Biodynamic method of viticulture and wine production, utilizing tactics to encourage biodiversity in the vineyard’s ecosystem.
Biodynamics follows celestial movements resulting in a calendar specifying the days for vineyard functions to include the perfect days for watering, pruning, harvesting, and conducting no work whatsoever. One of the most interesting elements of biodynamic viticulture is the use of cow horns filled with fresh cow manure buried in the vineyard during the winter months that the grower eventually sprays in the vineyard. Admittedly, I was highly skeptical when I first learned about biodynamics. However, the more I understand the vineyard ecosystem, the more I value the environmental preservation and biodiverse approach of this method.
From the winetasting, the 2018 Hallgarten Hendelberg Spätburgunder VDP.Erste Lage was my top-rated wine. Spätburgunder is the German equivalent of Pinot Noir. According to Sabine, the vineyard plots are on steep slopes with slate and quartzite soil. The sun warms the ground, allowing the day's warmth to reflect into the vines during the early evening hours extending the grape ripening process. Vines at the top of the slope benefit from light breezes, lowering the threat of funguses in the vineyard. Apart from the typical remarks in my tasting notebook for a top quality wine, I wrote: "Just Amazing." The wine showed pronounced aromas of ripe cherry, strawberry, and cedar from the oak ageing regiment. The refreshing acidity and round tannins gave this wine phenomenally balanced structure. I would be very interested in evaluating this wine in a blind tasting amongst similarly-priced Pinot Noirs from a neighboring country famous for that wine:-)
Please check out the YouTube video of our experience here.
Experience Rating: 3 Stars
Brodi’s Rating: 2 Paws Up
Website: https://www.prinz-wein.de/
Pet-Friendly: Yes
Experience Vibe: Private Experience, Seated Wine Tasting
Reservations Needed: Yes
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