Germany · Baden

Weingut Franz Keller

A family-run Kaiserstuhl estate making dry, estate-grown Spätburgunder from nine Baden vineyards.

The producer

Weingut Franz Keller is based in Vogtsburg-Oberbergen in Baden’s Kaiserstuhl, with 35 hectares spread across nine vineyards. Founded in 1892, the estate is shaped jointly by Fritz Keller and his son Friedrich, the family’s fourth generation. Pinot Noir—Spätburgunder in German—runs through the vineyard history: Fritz planted Kirchberg with it in 1975, while Enselberg received Burgundian Pinot Noir clones in 1999 and 2003.

The estate-level Vom Löss Spätburgunder Gutswein brings fruit from its own vineyards into one dry red. In the 2023, older German-clone parcels meet younger Burgundian-genetics plantings; oak ageing and a gravity-flow cellar frame red fruit with fresh acidity, medium body and dry tannin. The estate began converting to organic farming in 2021; its current certification status is unconfirmed.

Known for

Kaiserstuhl Spätburgunder shaped by estate vineyards, varied Pinot Noir plant material and a gravity-flow cellar.

Notable facts

The story

The Kirchberg planting

In 1975, Fritz Keller planted the estate’s Kirchberg vineyard with Pinot Noir. The planting came four decades before his son Friedrich officially joined the family business in 2015, and it remains within the 35-hectare Kaiserstuhl estate where they now make important decisions together. Kirchberg was not the family’s only later work with Pinot Noir material: parcels in Enselberg were planted exclusively with Burgundian Pinot Noir clones in 1999 and again in 2003. The documented 2023 Vom Löss Spätburgunder combines fruit from older German-clone parcels with younger plantings using Burgundian genetics, placing different generations of vineyard work in the same dry red wine.

From the atlas

Weingut Franz Keller

At A Glance

The Producer

Weingut Franz Keller works from Vogtsburg-Oberbergen in Baden’s Kaiserstuhl, drawing its wines from nine vineyards over 35 hectares. Pinot Noir is the clearest route into the estate because its plantings connect old German selections, later Burgundian clones and a cellar built around gentle movement by gravity.

Fritz Keller and Friedrich Keller make decisions together. Friedrich trained with his father from 2010 and officially joined in 2015, bringing the fourth generation into a business founded in 1892. The result is not a break between generations: Pinot Noir planted by Fritz in 1975 still sits beside later material planted under the family’s continued care.

Place

Kaiserstuhl is the part of Baden named on the estate’s vineyard and bottle story, while Oberbergen is the village from which the work is organised. A Gutswein such as Vom Löss Spätburgunder draws on the wider estate holding rather than one named parcel, so it can show how fruit from several Kaiserstuhl vineyards comes together in a dry Pinot Noir.

The estate joined the VDP in 2014. For Franz Keller, the membership sits alongside a site-led range: the wider estate appears in the Gutswein, while Kirchberg and Enselberg carry particular planting histories within the Kaiserstuhl holding.

Soil And Site

The 35 hectares are spread across nine Kaiserstuhl vineyards, which prevents the estate’s Pinot Noir from being tied to a single plot. Kirchberg is important because Fritz Keller planted it with Pinot Noir in 1975; Enselberg matters because parcels there were planted solely with Burgundian Pinot Noir clones in 1999 and 2003.

Those dates describe vine material as well as family history. Older German-clone parcels and younger Burgundian-genetics plantings both enter the documented 2023 Vom Löss Spätburgunder, broadening the fruit sources behind an estate-level wine rather than presenting one clone as the whole answer.

Story

The estate’s history begins in 1892, but its current working shape is firmly family-run. Fritz took on the wider family business in 1990, and Friedrich later learned the work directly beside him before joining officially in 2015. Their shared decisions now link vineyards, cellar and bottle across the 35-hectare estate.

A more recent decision has been the move toward organic farming, begun in 2021. The estate expected its first certified-organic harvest in 2024; the current certification status is not confirmed here. What is clear is the farming direction, alongside a gravity-flow cellar designed to move grapes and wine without routine pumping.

Vineyards And Cellar

Gravity flow matters most at the moment fruit becomes wine: it allows grapes, must and young wine to move through the cellar by level rather than being pushed through pumps. For Pinot Noir, whose tannin can quickly feel coarse when extraction is heavy, that approach supports a wine built around red fruit, acidity and measured grip.

The 2023 Vom Löss Spätburgunder is entirely estate-grown, so its Pinot Noir comes from Franz Keller’s own Kaiserstuhl vineyards. It is fermented using the documented cellar method and matured in oak; the resulting wine has enough tannin and dry structure to carry the oak without turning its fruit into a sweet, woody impression.

Wines

The range has a useful internal order. Vom Löss Spätburgunder is the estate-level Gutswein, made from fruit across the holding and suited to showing the broad Kaiserstuhl base. Named sites such as Kirchberg and Enselberg add another layer through their distinct Pinot Noir planting histories.

Spätburgunder is the central grape to follow. In the 2023 Vom Löss, older German-clone parcels meet younger Burgundian-genetics plantings, then oak ageing adds shape around the wine’s red-fruit core. The wine is dry, with acidity to keep the fruit moving and tannin to give the palate grip rather than simple softness.

In The Glass

Across the documented Vom Löss vintages, red fruit is the recurring starting point: cherry-led Pinot Noir fruit, rather than dark, heavily extracted sweetness. The palate brings fresh acidity and fine-grained tannin, a combination that keeps the body medium rather than heavy and lets the fruit remain visible through the oak.

The finish is dry and savoury, with tannin lingering after the red fruit has receded. That shape fits an estate Pinot Noir assembled from several Kaiserstuhl vineyard parcels: fruit supplies perfume, oak adds texture, and acidity prevents the wine from becoming broad or loose on the finish.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose Franz Keller Vom Löss Spätburgunder Gutswein 2023. It is a dry, estate-vineyard Pinot Noir made from both older German-clone parcels and younger Burgundian-genetics plantings, then matured in oak. Expect red fruit, fresh acidity, medium body, gentle oak texture and a dry finish with tannin.

It comes first because one bottle joins the estate’s practical details without requiring a map of every vineyard: Kaiserstuhl fruit, a family’s long-running Pinot Noir plantings, estate-only sourcing and a gravity-flow cellar. Serve it with roast poultry, mushrooms or pork, where the wine’s acidity can cut through richness and its savoury finish can meet browned flavours.

Anecdote

In 1975, Fritz Keller planted the estate’s Kirchberg vineyard with Pinot Noir. The planting came decades before Friedrich Keller officially joined the family business in 2015, but it remains part of the same 35-hectare, nine-vineyard Kaiserstuhl estate that father and son now run together. Years later, the family added another chapter to its Pinot Noir material: Enselberg parcels were planted exclusively with Burgundian Pinot Noir clones in 1999 and again in 2003. The 2023 Vom Löss Spätburgunder brings older German-clone parcels together with younger plantings using Burgundian genetics, placing those different planting decisions in the same dry red wine.

Final Word

Franz Keller is worth seeking out for Pinot Noir that begins with a real estate structure: 35 hectares, nine Kaiserstuhl vineyards, family decisions made across generations and a Gutswein assembled entirely from estate fruit. Vom Löss is the bottle where those details arrive as cherry fruit, acidity, oak texture and dry tannin.

Sources

Open Weingut Franz Keller in the interactive map →