Germany · Pfalz

Weingut von Winning

A Deidesheim, Pfalz estate centred on Riesling from named sites in Deidesheim and Forst, with spontaneous fermentation in wooden barrels since 2008.

The producer

Weingut von Winning traces its history to 1849 and works from Deidesheim in Germany’s Pfalz. Riesling covers 85% of its vineyard area, with classified holdings including Kalkofen, Kieselberg, Langenmorgen and Grainhübel in Deidesheim, plus Kirchenstück, Jesuitengarten, Pechstein and Ungeheuer in Forst. The different vineyard names keep the range focused on how one grape changes from site to site.

Since 2008, the estate has fermented naturally in wooden barrels and uses gravity rather than pumps where possible. The Riesling GGs bring acidity, salinity, mineral character and a dry, firm finish into focus; Sauvignon Blanc 500 takes a different path, selected from 500-litre barrels for fruit, oak, texture and freshness. Jana Niederberger owns the estate, with Stephan Attmann as managing director and Kurt Rathgeber as cellarmaster.

Known for

Site-led Pfalz Riesling, alongside barrel-selected Sauvignon Blanc.

Notable facts

The story

The name returned in 2008

In 2008, the winery was operating as Dr. Deinhard. Under Stephan Attmann, it restored the name Weingut von Winning, returning to the name Leopold von Winning had given the estate after taking it over in 1907. The same year marks the beginning of the estate’s stated use of spontaneous fermentation in wooden barrels and gravity handling where possible. Current bottles of Pechstein Riesling GG, Kirchenstück Riesling GG and Sauvignon Blanc 500 therefore carry a name that had first appeared with Leopold von Winning, disappeared during the Dr. Deinhard period, and returned in 2008.

From the atlas

Weingut von Winning

At A Glance

Weingut von Winning is a Deidesheim estate in Germany’s Pfalz, with roots reaching back to 1849. Riesling occupies 85% of its vineyard area, so the estate’s central question is how named sites in Deidesheim and nearby Forst change the grape in the bottle. Alongside those site-led Rieslings, Sauvignon Blanc shows how the cellar uses larger wooden barrels for fruit, oak and texture.

The Producer

Jana Niederberger owns the estate; Stephan Attmann is managing director and Kurt Rathgeber is cellarmaster. Their work is concentrated on Riesling, with the grape carrying most of the vineyard area and the classified vineyard names carrying much of the range. A label such as Kirchenstück Riesling GG therefore joins a grape, a Forst site and a high-level classified wine rather than simply naming a style.

Place

Deidesheim is the estate’s home, but its important Riesling holdings stretch across two neighbouring Pfalz villages. In Deidesheim, Kalkofen, Kieselberg, Langenmorgen and Grainhübel supply named sites; in Forst, the holdings include Kirchenstück, Jesuitengarten, Pechstein and Ungeheuer. That spread turns Riesling from one house wine into a set of site bottles, with each vineyard name giving the range a distinct point of reference.

Soil And Site

Weathered red sandstone, tertiary limestone and basalt occur within von Winning’s vineyard geology. These are not interchangeable backdrops: the estate bottles classified Rieslings from separately named sites in Deidesheim and Forst, allowing a Pechstein or Kirchenstück label to point to a particular vineyard source rather than a blended regional address. The geological mix gives the estate physical variation to work with while Riesling remains the common grape.

Story

The estate’s name records a change made in 1907, when Leopold von Winning took it over and gave it his own name. He also redirected the property toward quality-focused winemaking, shifting the estate’s course well before its present Riesling GG range existed. The result is a house whose history is attached to a person and a name, while its present bottles locate that inherited name in vineyards such as Kieselberg, Pechstein and Kirchenstück.

Vineyards And Cellar

Since 2008, von Winning has used spontaneous fermentation in wooden barrels and, where possible, moves wine by gravity rather than pumps. Those choices put wood and handling into the frame without making every bottle taste alike: the site Rieslings remain organised by vineyard name, while Sauvignon Blanc 500 is explicitly selected from 500-litre barrels. In that wine, oak, fruit, texture and acidity are all part of the stated profile, showing that barrel work is intended to sit alongside freshness rather than cover it.

Wines

Riesling is the range’s backbone. The GGs draw attention to individual classified sites, including Pechstein and Kirchenstück in Forst: the former is presented with aromatic and mineral character, while Kirchenstück brings aroma, palate structure, acidity and salinity into view. These are wines for comparing how two named vineyards carry the same grape through different structural shapes.

Sauvignon Blanc forms a separate ladder: II, I, Imperiale, 500, 500 Reserve and OTC. Sauvignon Blanc 500 sits within the more selected end of that sequence, chosen from 500-litre barrels. Its fruit, oak, acidity and texture make it a different proposition from the Riesling GGs: less about a classified Riesling site and more about how one variety responds to barrel selection.

In The Glass

The Riesling GGs offer a progression from aroma into structure. Kirchenstück is associated with acidity and salinity on the palate, then an ageing arc that keeps the wine moving beyond its first fruit impression. Pechstein is described through aromatic and mineral character, directing attention toward scent and stony detail rather than oak weight.

Sauvignon Blanc 500 changes the register. Fruit meets oak from the 500-litre-barrel selection, while acidity keeps the texture from becoming heavy. Across these wines, the useful contrast is not simply grape against grape: Riesling channels classified vineyard names into acidity, salinity and mineral character; Sauvignon Blanc channels barrel selection into fruit, oak and a broader mouthfeel.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the 2023 Kirchenstück Riesling GG. It is a Riesling from one of von Winning’s Forst classified sites, and its profile brings together aroma, palate structure, acidity, salinity and the capacity to develop with age. That combination makes it a direct way into the estate’s main subject: Riesling shaped through a named vineyard, then carried through the cellar without losing its dry, firm line and long finish.

Anecdote

In 2008, the winery was operating as Dr. Deinhard. Under Stephan Attmann, it restored the name Weingut von Winning, returning to the name Leopold von Winning had given the estate after taking it over in 1907. The same year marks the beginning of the estate’s stated use of spontaneous fermentation in wooden barrels and gravity handling where possible. So the name on current Pechstein, Kirchenstück and Sauvignon Blanc bottles belongs to a winery that had changed names twice: once when Leopold von Winning took over, and again when the old von Winning name returned in 2008.

Final Word

Von Winning is most clearly encountered through Riesling from named Deidesheim and Forst sites, where acidity, salinity and mineral character give the bottles their shape. Sauvignon Blanc 500 adds a useful second view: fruit and oak held in a textured, fresh frame.

Sources

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