At the city wall of Freinsheim since 1974
Ulrike and Günter Kirchner founded their winery in 1974 in Freinsheim, one of the most striking wine towns on the German Wine Route. The medieval town center with its preserved city wall still characterizes the winery today — literally: the business is located directly at the historic fortification, which gave the estate's site-specific wines their name. For several years now, their son Ralph Kirchner has been running the winery and is gradually developing it towards distinct site-specific wines with a clear terroir reference. The entire production is marketed via the bottle, about 80 percent to private customers, the rest to gastronomy and specialist retailers.
Less is more — in the vineyard and in the cellar
The philosophy that Günter and Ulrike Kirchner pursued from the beginning has been adopted and consistently developed by Ralph: low yields per hectare, near-natural cultivation, and predominantly manual harvesting. In the cellar, this results in a clear line — spontaneous fermentation without additives, aging of the white site-specific wines in large wooden barrels, maturation of the red wines in barriques. Sparkling wines are produced according to the traditional bottle fermentation method. Neither in the vineyard nor in the cellar is there any intervention where it is not necessary.
The 18.5 hectares of vineyards are spread over several sites around Freinsheim, Herxheim am Berg, Dackenheim, and the Kallstadter Saumagen. The soils vary greatly: sandy subsoil with heavy ground in the Schwarzen Kreuz, high clay and lime content in the Oschelskopf, loamy sandy soils with partly heavy clay sections in the Musikantenbuckel. This diversity allows grape varieties to be played out in a variety-typical way: Riesling on the mineral-influenced lime-loam locations, Pinot Noir and St. Laurent on the heavier soils. 60 percent of the area is planted with white wine varieties, 40 percent with red wine varieties.
Clear style: Palatinate terroir without frills
The range is divided into three levels: estate wines, local wines, and site-specific wines, also recognizable by the label coloring. Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Sauvignon Blanc form the core of the white wines — including the Stadtmauer line, which scores with accessibility and clean fruit, as well as the site-specific wines from Oschelskopf and Schwarzem Kreuz, which transport the clay-lime character of the Freinsheim soils directly into the glass. With the Oschelskopf Gewürztraminer, the aromatic power of the site comes into its own. For the red wines, the focus is on Pinot Noir and St. Laurent, barrique-aged and geared towards structure. The Vinum Weinguide Deutschland 2024 has awarded the winery three stars; at the Meininger Rotweinpreis and the German Sparkling Wine Award, points in the 88 to 90-point range were achieved several times.
