Germany · Baden

Weingut Ziereisen

An Efringen-Kirchen family estate whose hand-worked vineyards, large wooden vessels and long lees ageing shape dry, savoury wines from Gutedel to Spätburgunder.

The producer

Weingut Ziereisen stands in Efringen-Kirchen, where the family has lived since 1734. According to the estate, Hanspeter Ziereisen, trained as a carpenter, founded the winery with Edeltraud in 1991 and developed it to 21 hectares; Ida and Johann are now part of the family team. Most vineyards lie in the Efringer Ölberg, where nearly all vine work and harvesting are done by hand.

The range moves from Schmätterling rosé and Gutedel to site-led white and red wines, with TAL 23 offering a clear view of the red-wine approach. This Blauer Spätburgunder is fermented spontaneously, spends about four weeks on skins and matures in large wooden casks. Black cherry, cassis, pepper and herbs meet fresh acidity, sandy tannin, mineral character and a dry, chalky finish.

Known for

Hand-worked Efringer Ölberg vineyards and long wood-and-lees ageing, expressed from Gutedel and rosé through to dry Blauer Spätburgunder.

Notable facts

The story

From carpentry to the first labelled vintage

Hanspeter Ziereisen trained as a carpenter before entering wine. The producer’s own history dates the winery’s founding to 1991, when he and Edeltraud began turning his parents’ farm in Efringen-Kirchen into a wine-growing business. Their work moved beyond growing grapes for others: in 1993 they bottled their first vintage under the Ziereisen name. The family had already been rooted in Efringen-Kirchen since 1734, but these were the first bottles to carry the name from the rebuilt farm. Hanspeter’s former trade remained part of the sequence: carpentry first, then a vineyard estate, then a first labelled vintage leaving the village cellar.

From carpentry to the first labelled vintage

Hanspeter Ziereisen trained as a carpenter before entering wine. The producer’s own history dates the winery’s founding to 1991, when he and Edeltraud began turning his parents’ farm in Efringen-Kirchen into a wine-growing business. Their work moved beyond growing grapes for others: in 1993 they bottled their first vintage under the Ziereisen name. The family had already been rooted in Efringen-Kirchen since 1734, but these were the first bottles to carry the name from the rebuilt farm. Hanspeter’s former trade remained part of the sequence: carpentry first, then a vineyard estate, then a first labelled vintage leaving the village cellar.

From the atlas

Weingut Ziereisen

At A Glance

Weingut Ziereisen is a family estate in Efringen-Kirchen, working mostly in the Efringer Ölberg. Its wines run from Gutedel, rosé and sparkling wine to Pinot varieties, Syrah and long-aged reds; handwork in the vines, spontaneous fermentation and wood ageing give the range a dry, savoury shape rather than a simple fruit-first style.

The Producer

Hanspeter and Edeltraud Ziereisen run the estate with Ida and Johann at Markgrafenstrasse 17 in Efringen-Kirchen. The producer’s history dates the winery to 1991, when Hanspeter, trained as a carpenter, began building a wine business with Edeltraud; the estate says it grew to 21 hectares. That family work now appears in bottles labelled from individual varieties through site-led premium wines and Jaspis selections.

Place

Efringen-Kirchen lies in Baden, in Germany’s warm southern corner, where the estate’s slopes are described as steep and south-facing. Most Ziereisen vineyards sit in the Efringer Ölberg, so the wines begin from a concentrated local area rather than a scattered collection of distant parcels. Spätburgunder and Gutedel form the core of the planting, while Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Muskat, Gewürztraminer and Syrah widen the cellar’s palette.

Soil And Site

The documented ground beneath TAL 23 is Muschelkalk, a shell limestone, with a loess covering. In this dry Spätburgunder, that setting accompanies a firm, chalky, salty finish rather than a broad, sweet-fruited Pinot Noir. The wider estate also works limestone soils on warm slopes, a combination that supports ripe grapes while leaving room for herbs, smoke and savoury detail in the finished wines.

Story

The Ziereisen family has lived in Efringen-Kirchen since 1734, but the present winery began with a change of trade. Hanspeter brought a carpenter’s background to a parents’ farm that he and Edeltraud converted into a wine-growing business. Their first bottled vintage followed in 1993, shifting the family’s work from farm production to named estate bottles: Gutedel, Burgundian varieties, rosé, sparkling wine and red blends could carry the Ziereisen name from the village cellar.

Vineyards And Cellar

Nearly all vine work, including harvest, is done by hand, and the estate describes its farming as close to nature and sustainable; German Wine USA reports no chemical fertilisers or chemical sprays in the vineyards. Healthy, ripe berries are selected before spontaneous fermentation, which lets each lot begin without a cultured yeast recipe. The result is not a claim of uniform flavour, but a method that keeps fruit, herb and earth notes connected to the grapes that arrived from the slope.

Wood is central after harvest. The estate uses vessels from 225 to 4,000 litres, and wines can remain on lees for as long as 24 months. Estate wines spend roughly six to ten months on lees in wood, varietal wines at least ten months, and premium wines 12 to 22 months before bottling without fining or filtration. For reds such as TAL 23, selective hand harvest, spontaneous fermentation, about four weeks on skins and large-cask ageing build tannin and weight while keeping oak in the background.

Wines

The entry range includes Heugumber Gutedel, Schmätterling rosé, Marienchäfer Regent and Ohrechübler sparkling wine. These wines are spontaneously fermented and spend six to ten months on lees in wood, so the rosé and white wines are framed by texture as well as fruit. The varietal line then brings Gutedel, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Muskateller, Gewürztraminer and Blauer Spätburgunder into view, each with at least ten months in wooden casks.

Premium wines narrow the focus to a named growing place: Steingrüble Gutedel, Lügle Pinot Blanc, Musbrugger Pinot Gris, Hard Chardonnay, and reds including Tschuppen, Talrain, Schulen, Rhini and Gestad. The Jaspis wines sit above them as occasional bottlings from the estate’s oldest vines and selected parcels; they include Grauer Burgunder, Chardonnay, Gutedel 10⁴, Pinot Noir, Spätburgunder and Syrah. Across these levels, the structural thread is dry fruit, lees contact and oak vessels, not a single grape or colour.

In The Glass

TAL 23, the current name for the wine formerly called Talrain, shows what that method can do with Blauer Spätburgunder. Its aroma moves from mulberry, black cherry and cassis to black pepper, lovage, eucalyptus, mint and restrained wood smoke. On the palate the fruit becomes brighter, with blueberry and cassis over fresh acidity; the tannin is fine and sandy rather than dense. A saline, chalky note and a firm, faintly bitter finish keep the 13% alcohol wine dry and energetic.

Schmätterling provides a different register: rosé rather than red, with the estate’s short wood-and-lees ageing applied to a lighter-coloured wine. The contrast matters within the range. TAL carries skin contact, tannin and a long large-cask élevage; Schmätterling offers the rosé route into the house style, where fruit is likely to meet more texture than a stainless-steel-only wine.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with TAL 23 Blauer Spätburgunder, a dry 2023 Badischer Landwein from the Oberrhein. It is Spätburgunder from shell limestone with loess, fermented spontaneously, held on skins for about four weeks, matured for at least 24 months in large traditional wooden casks and bottled unfiltered. Mulberry, black cherry, cassis, pepper and herbs lead into fresh acidity, velvet-textured tannin and a chalky finish. It brings place, hand selection, wood ageing and the estate’s preference for Landwein onto one label without asking for a Jaspis bottle first.

Anecdote

Hanspeter Ziereisen trained as a carpenter before entering wine. The producer’s own history dates the founding of the winery to 1991, when he and Edeltraud began converting his parents’ farm in Efringen-Kirchen into a wine-growing business. They did not simply send the fruit away: two years later, in 1993, they bottled their first vintage under their own name. The sequence is still unusually tangible at the estate: a family whose local roots reach back to 1734, a former carpenter, a farm remade for vines, then the first Ziereisen-labelled bottles leaving Efringen-Kirchen in 1993.

Final Word

Ziereisen is worth seeking out for wines that treat wood and lees as tools for shape, not sweetness. Choose TAL 23 for dry Spätburgunder with cherry, herbs, chalk and grip; then follow its path back through the rosé, Gutedel and site-focused bottles from Efringen-Kirchen.

Sources

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