The winery is located in the municipality of Rech in the German wine-growing region of Ahr. The traditional family has been growing grapes in the Ahr valley since 1578. From 1900, Alois Stodden began to press his Pinot Noir wines himself. Gerhard Stodden led the company to the top of the German wine scene from the mid-1970s. He is considered one of the pioneers of this grape variety. Since 2013, the business has been run by his son Alexander Stodden. After training as an oenologist, he was cellar master at the Bergsig winery in South Africa and winemaker at Witnesstree Vinyards in Oregon(USA).
The vineyards cover 9.5 hectares of vines on 90% steep slopes in the single vineyard sites Rosenthal (Ahrweiler), Hardtberg (Dernau), Sonnenberg (Neuenahr), Kräuterberg (Walporzheim), Mönchberg (Mayschoß) and Herrenberg (Rech). They are 95% planted with Pinot Noir, as well as Riesling and Frühburgunder. Environmentally friendly, sustainable viticulture is practised according to certified Fair'n Green rules. Insecticides are not used at all. Quality criteria are reduced yields through appropriate pruning and thinning out (green harvest), selective manual harvesting with the aim of healthy and ripe grapes, as well as gentle processing. All grapes are destemmed and macerated for up to 24 days.
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Thorsten Rahn
Restaurantleiter, Sommelier, Weindozent und Autor; Dresden