Germany · Baden

Weingut am Klotz

A joint Keller-Reinecker family project in Istein, Baden, growing Burgundy-family varieties and Gutedel on the coral limestone of the Isteiner Klotz.

The producer

Weingut am Klotz brings Fritz and Friedrich Keller of Oberbergen together with Herbert and Steffen Reinecker of Auggen. Since the families bought the estate in 2019, their hands-on project has worked old vines rooted in the Jurassic coral limestone of the Isteiner Klotz, with Burgundy-family varieties and Gutedel tied to that ground.

The 2022 Kalk & Löss Spätburgunder offers a close view of the cellar work: it is entirely Pinot Noir, partly fermented with whole clusters, then aged for twelve months in 228-litre oak barrels, only a small share of them new. Bright cherry red with a darker core and slight cloudiness, it is a youthful red whose fruit, tannin, barrel texture and finish are still developing.

Known for

Burgundy-family varieties and Gutedel from old vines on coral-limestone-influenced soils, with pure Pinot Noir as a documented example.

Notable facts

The story

Two Baden families at the Klotz

In 2019, the Keller and Reinecker families bought Weingut am Klotz and began operating it together. Fritz and Friedrich Keller came from Oberbergen, while Herbert and Steffen Reinecker came from Auggen. The estate they took on stood in Istein at the Isteiner Klotz, where old vines grow through Jurassic coral limestone and other limestone formations. Their joint work joined the two families at a site already defined by Burgundy-family varieties and Gutedel, and the estate describes the result as a hands-on family project. The same four names connect the Klotz’s vineyard ground with the wines bottled from it.

From the atlas

Weingut am Klotz

At A Glance

Weingut am Klotz is a family project in Istein, Baden, where Burgundy-family varieties and Gutedel grow at the Isteiner Klotz. Old vines root in coral limestone and Jurassic rock, so the estate’s wines begin with a notably physical piece of ground rather than a broad regional formula. Fritz and Friedrich Keller work with Herbert and Steffen Reinecker; the families have run the estate together since 2019.

The Producer

The Keller family comes from Oberbergen and the Reinecker family from Auggen, bringing four named family members to a hands-on project at Istein. Their shared work centres on vines at the Isteiner Klotz, where Burgundy-family grapes and Gutedel are planted on limestone. That combination makes the producer easy to locate in the glass: its grape choices are tied directly to one geological formation.

Place

Istein lies in Baden, and the Isteiner Klotz is the estate’s central landmark and vineyard setting. It was designated a nature reserve in 1986, placing the vines beside protected landscape as well as within a working wine estate. For Weingut am Klotz, Istein is not merely the address on a label: the Klotz supplies the limestone ground beneath the grape varieties that shape the range.

Soil And Site

Jurassic rock layers and varied limestone formations run through the estate’s vineyards. The Isteiner Klotz is described as a Jurassic coral-limestone formation, with vines rooting directly into it; old vines are another defining feature. Coral limestone is therefore not decorative label language here. It is the material beneath the roots of the Burgundy-family varieties, Gutedel and the Pinot Noir used for Kalk & Löss Spätburgunder.

Story

Weingut am Klotz joined two established Baden wine families when the Kellers and Reineckers took it on. The work now combines a family-operated estate with a site defined by old vines, limestone and a focused grape direction. Hand harvesting, hand selection and low-intervention cellar work keep the attention on fruit arriving from the Klotz, while the documented 2022 Pinot shows how that approach reaches a finished bottle.

Vineyards And Cellar

Hand harvesting and hand selection allow fruit to be sorted before it reaches the cellar, making selection part of the wine’s shape rather than an afterthought. The estate has also been described as being in organic conversion, alongside its low-intervention approach. These practices keep vineyard material central, particularly where old vines grow in direct contact with limestone-rich ground.

The 2022 Kalk & Löss Spätburgunder shows the cellar decisions in unusually concrete terms. It is entirely Pinot Noir, with some whole-cluster fermentation, then twelve months in 228-litre oak barrels. Only a small proportion of those barrels was new. Whole clusters bring stems into the ferment; the limited share of new oak keeps the barrel programme from becoming the wine’s dominant fact.

Wines

The range is built around Burgundy-family varieties and Gutedel from the Isteiner Klotz, rather than around an exhaustive catalogue of named cuvées. That breadth lets the estate work with both the local white grape Gutedel and the Burgundy family’s red and white varieties while keeping coral limestone as the shared vineyard thread.

Kalk & Löss Spätburgunder is the clearest documented red within that direction. The 2022 is pure Pinot Noir, made with a partial whole-cluster component and a year in small oak barrels. Those choices put fruit, stem-derived grip and oak texture into the same bottle, while the small new-oak share keeps the wood treatment measured.

In The Glass

The 2022 Kalk & Löss Spätburgunder pours bright cherry red, with a darker core and slight cloudiness. Its youthful development is part of the experience: Pinot Noir fruit is still at an early stage, and the whole-cluster element brings a structural edge to follow from first aroma through the finish.

On the palate, look for the relationship between Pinot Noir’s body, the grip associated with the whole-cluster portion and the texture supplied by twelve months in barrel. The limited use of new oak matters because it leaves oak as one element in the wine rather than covering the fruit. Give the finish time; youth, tannin and barrel texture are all still in motion.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the 2022 Kalk & Löss Spätburgunder. It is a fully documented view of Weingut am Klotz: Pinot Noir from the estate’s limestone setting, some whole-cluster fermentation, twelve months in 228-litre barrels and only a small proportion of new oak. Bright cherry-red colour, a youthful palate and a finish shaped by fruit, grip and barrel texture make it a concrete first encounter with the Klotz rather than a generic Baden red.

Anecdote

In 2019, the Keller and Reinecker families bought Weingut am Klotz and began operating it together. Fritz and Friedrich Keller came from Oberbergen; Herbert and Steffen Reinecker came from Auggen. Their new joint estate was in Istein, at the Isteiner Klotz, where old vines grow over Jurassic coral limestone. The purchase brought the two Baden families to the same vineyard landscape and created the hands-on family project named on the bottles today.

Final Word

Weingut am Klotz begins with Istein’s coral limestone, then follows it through old vines, Burgundy-family grapes and Gutedel. For a first close look, the 2022 Kalk & Löss Spätburgunder puts Pinot Noir, whole clusters and restrained new-oak use into one youthful red.

Sources

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