Until recently, it was little more than a blank spot on my personal map of German wine. Somewhere between Churfranken and the Spessart hills, somewhere where the Main River slowly winds its way through sandy soils and the vineyards lean south. That’s about all I knew. Which is exactly why I had to go and see for myself in early July.

Philipp Giegerich made time. An entire afternoon devoted to vineyards, soils, sites, nuances. Großwallstadt, Rück, Wörth, Klingenberg – we toured them all. Stopping again and again, grabbing handfuls of soil, observing, explaining, discussing. A proper afternoon for nerds – in the very best sense.

Max Kaindl, July 20, 2025
Reading time about 3 minutes

Großwallstadt? That rings a bell…

What surprised me?

How dramatically the soils change within just a few kilometers. Loess, sandstone, sometimes deep, sometimes meager. What surprised me even more: how deeply Philipp thinks about every square meter he works. No “it’ll be fine” attitude. Instead, an uncompromising eye for detail – row width, under-vine management, cover crops. Someone who questions, experiments, rethinks. Curious, hungry for knowledge, never satisfied. And that’s precisely what makes him so fascinating.

We ended up deep in conversation. So deep, in fact, that we ran out of time for a proper tasting in the end. But honestly? I didn’t mind. Those conversations were worth more than any bottle we could have opened.

Later that evening – quite unexpectedly – I caught a first glimpse of where things are heading.

Blind in the glass: Chardonnay R 2023. Juicy, taut, mineral, with that hint of reduction that makes good Chardonnay so irresistibly sexy. Alongside it, the Grande Cuvée Sekt No. 2. A serious bottle of fizz. Yeasty spice, brioche, length, tension – nothing flat, nothing banal. You can tell immediately that someone here is working with a clear goal. Precision over volume, substance over gimmickry. If I’m nitpicking: I did miss a touch of sweetness to bridge the wine’s racy acidity and juicy flow. I think 1-1.5 grams of dosage would give this Sekt the final polish. But honestly, that’s criticism on a very high level.

Philipp Giegerich impresses me.

Not because he’s loud – quite the opposite. He comes across as reserved, but beneath the surface there’s a fire burning. Ambition, determination, a constant inner drive to make his thing even better. Together with his brother Kilian and father Klaus, he’s steadily taking the estate where it belongs: to the top of the region.

Pinot Noir is his great passion. Klingenberger Schlossberg is the mammoth project. Steep slopes others gave up on long ago – he’s bringing them back, wall by wall, vine by vine. A backbreaking job that takes more than just stamina. It takes vision.

What’s left after this visit?

An afternoon that raised more questions than it answered. An estate that wasn’t even on my radar and is now firmly on my watchlist. And a feeling: something is happening here. Quietly, steadily, but with absolute conviction.

Part two is already in the works. With more time. And more wine. Promise.

Pictures: © The Art of Riesling – Maximilian Kaindl

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