The winery is located in the community of Östringen-Tiefenbach (Kraichgau area) in the German winegrowing region of Baden. It was founded in 1960 by Albert Heitlinger. Today it is owned by the "Weingüter Heitlinger & Burg Ravensburg GmbH" with the owner Heinz Heiler. The vineyard
Burg Ravensburg in Sulzfeld was acquired in 2010, but still exists on an equal footing. The two wineries are completely separate in terms of wine law, but are managed jointly. They are only ten kilometers apart, and all wines are produced in the new winery in Tiefenbach, which was built in 2012. Dipl.-Weinbaubetriebswirt Claus Burmeister is responsible as managing director for both estates. Jürgen Kern and Daniel Rupp are responsible for the cellar technology.
The vineyards comprise 80 hectares of vineyards in the individual sites Schellenbrunnen and Spiegelberg (Tiefenbach), Kapellenberg (Eichelberg) and Königsbecher (Odenheim), which are classified as VDP-Grosse Lage. The soils are characterised by calcareous, coloured marl. They are planted 70% with the Burgundy varieties Weißburgunder, Grauburgunder, Auxerrois, Chardonnay and Spätburgunder, 20% with Riesling and 10% others. The Heitlinger Winery is considered a Burgundy specialist. Since 2010, we have been working according to certified guidelines of
organic (ecological) viticulture with the principles of
sustainability as well as the farm principle "responsibility for nature". Since 2014, the vineyards have also been cultivated according to the rules of
biodynamic viticulture In doing so, biologically active soil is used as the ideal location for healthy and stable vines and manual labour is seen as the key to quality. No chemical synthetic substances foreign to nature are used. By
planting flowering, green undersown seeds,
biodiversity is created with diverse habitats for plants, animals and
microorganisms. All plots are individually cultivated according to the
VDP classification model (local wine to large plant) depending on the wine quality level. The average yield is 55 hl/ha. By exclusively manual, strictly selective harvesting in several passes and repeated sorting in the winery, the processing of ripe and undamaged grapes is guaranteed
In order to achieve a pronounced depth of aroma, the skins and juice of the grapes remain in contact for up to six days under cooling in order to extract as much of the extract substances as possible before fermentation. This gives the wines a special individuality and shelf life. The work in the cellar is carried out with great care using pneumatic presses and gravitational force instead of pumps to transport grapes, must and wine. The great wines from the Burgundy varieties and from Lemberger
(Blaufränkisch) mature exclusively in large wooden barrels and barriques. About 580,000 bottles of wine are produced annually. The winery is a member of the
Slow Food association, and since the beginning of 2012 of the
VDP (Verband deutscher Prädikatsweingüter).