Outstanding Vinotheks Details

Germany's most famous poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, once expressed his admiration: "A joyous land where the wine ripens before the backdrop of the Black Forest," he gushed about the Markgräflerland, in extreme southwestern Germany. With France neighboring to the west and Switzerland to the south, the region enchants with its sweet hill landscape and small, comely towns.

A mild climate and plentiful sunshine (1,700 hours annually on average) have lent this region its nickname "German Tuscany" (a distinction shared with the Pfalz). Not least in part because of the wonderful wines produced here, including in the charming rural town of Müllheim. With 18,000 residents in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, the town has been home to Weingut Engler since 1892. Engler is currently led by Andrea Engler-Waibel, the great-granddaughter of founder Max Engler-Rieggerdt.

Andrea Engler-Waibel and her team cultivate 10 hectares of vineyards across a number of sites: Reggenhag, Pfaffenstück and Sonnhalde, as well as the steep and stony Römerberg in Badenweiler. Weingut Engler's flagship wine is a Markgräfler specialty called Gutedel. At the traditional Gutedel Cup in April 2016, Weingut Engler's 2015 Müllheimer Gutedel once again claimed victory in the category of "Qualitätsweintrocken."

Other vines from the Pinot family, including Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir, thrive in vine plots at least 20 years old. These varieties are joined by Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Chardonnay and SpätburgunderRosé, as well as a bit of Nobling, Riesling and Gewürztraminer. The Englers are one of the few wineries in the region to produce a Kabinett wine that goes in the bottle precisely as it was hand harvested from the vine — with no chaptalization prior to fermentation. An authentic wine through and through!

As the three generations before her did, Andrea Engler-Waibel swears by the philosophy that good wine can only arise in harmony with nature. As a result, her aim is to harness the full potential of the existing ecosystem, primarily through a hands-off approach to cultivation that forgoes all herbicides and pesticides.

For her fresh, lively white wines, the grapes are pressed gently and then fermented in stainless steel tanks. The reds, by contrast, are produced using traditional maceration, and following malolactic fermentation are placed in old, neutral wooden barrels. Tastings are held in the stylish new vinothek that opened in 2011 following four months of construction. The imposing arches and original building materials come together with sandstone walls, crushed stone masonry and stuccoed structures, all deftly integrated into the interior design.