A biodynamic Gimmeldingen estate at 20.4 ha under Steffen Christmann, VDP member since 1994 and chair of the VDP national board 2007-2021; flagship Konigsbacher Idig Riesling GG.
Address: Peter-Koch-Strasse 43, 67435 Gimmeldingen, Germany, Pfalz
A 1744-founded Haardt estate now in the ninth Catoir generation under Philipp David Catoir; 23.3 ha across Burgergarten Im Breumel monopole, Eselshaut, Mandelgarten and Vogelsang Grosse Lage sites.
Tasting: Vinothek at Mandelring 25; estate tastings by appointment with a focus on Haardter Burgergarten and Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten GGs and the Scheurebe and Rieslaner specialties.
A respekt-BIODYN Siebeldingen estate at 26 ha under Hansjorg Rebholz, VDP member since 1991, with Grosse Lage parcels at Birkweiler Kastanienbusch, Siebeldinger Im Sonnenschein and Mandelberg.
Tasting: Vinothek at Weinstrasse 54; biodynamic vineyard walks on Kastanienbusch, Im Sonnenschein and Mandelberg by appointment; vintner tastings during the Sudliche Weinstrasse open-cellar weekend in late August.
A Schweigen Pinot Noir specialist at 29.8 ha under Friedrich Wilhelm Becker, VDP member since 2000, with 80 percent Burgunder plantings and Grosse Lage vines literally crossing the French border into Alsace.
Tasting: Vinothek and shop at Hauptstrasse 29 by appointment; Pinot-focused tastings of Sankt Paul, Sonnenberg, Kammerberg and Heydenreich GGs, with vineyard walks that physically cross into French Alsace.
A 99.7 ha Laumersheim estate under Werner, Volker and Stephan Knipser, VDP member since 1993, and the German barrique-pioneer estate for Cabernet, Merlot and Pinot Noir from the 1980s onward.
Tasting: Estate Vinothek at Hauptstrasse 47-49 by appointment; tastings cover Kirschgarten, Mandelpfad and Steinbuckel GGs and the Knipser Bordeaux-blend reds that pioneered the category in Germany from the 1980s.
A 61 ha north-Mittelhaardt and Zellertal estate at Laumersheim under Philipp Kuhn, VDP member since 2008, with Grosse Lage parcels at Kirschgarten, Steinbuckel, Im Grossen Garten, Schwarzer Herrgott and Kallstadter Saumagen.
Tasting: Vinothek at Grosskarlbacher Strasse 20 by appointment; estate tastings cover the Laumersheimer Kirschgarten and Steinbuckel GGs and the Zellertaler Schwarzer Herrgott and Kreuzberg Rieslings.
A 19.9 ha Birkweiler VDP estate (member since 1991) under Franz Wehrheim, respekt-BIODYN certified, with Grosse Lage parcels at Mandelberg, Kastanienbusch (Koppel) and Siebeldinger Im Sonnenschein.
Tasting: Vinothek at Weinstrasse 8 by appointment; Mandelberg, Kastanienbusch and Im Sonnenschein vineyard walks bookable in season.
