Salwey

The Salwey winery from Oberrotweil on the Kaiserstuhl is one of the most illustrious names in German viticulture, which has significantly shaped the image of Baden as the German land of Burgundy.

The most important information summarised here:

📜 History: a family business with a long tradition

The roots of the winery date back to 1740. However, the modern era began in 1950, when Benno Salwey rebuilt the business as a mixed agricultural operation. The decisive change to a pure wine-growing operation was achieved by his son Wolf-Dietrich Salwey, a visionary who is responsible for Baden once again being recognised as the home of German Burgundy wines. Today, the winery is run by Konrad Salwey in the third generation .

🌄 Location and terroir: volcanic energy in the warmest place in Germany

The winery is located in Oberrotweil on the Kaiserstuhl, the warmest region in Germany. The special terroir is characterised by two elements:

Volcanic soils: extinct volcanoes left behind hard tephrite, tuff or weathered lava soils with calcareous veins - perfect for powerful, mineral wines .
Loess: The fine-grained, deep loess provides the white Burgundy wines with creaminess and fullness.

The estate's top sites are the VDP.GROSSE LAGE® Kirchberg, Henkenberg, Steingrubenberg and Eichberg. The family's own mountain cellar, a tunnel blasted into the rock for the perfect maturation of the wines, is also located in the heart of these sites .

🍷 Wine-growing philosophy: Burgundy purism with "as little as possible, as much as necessary"

The winery specialises in the three major Burgundy varieties: Pinot Noir (40%), Pinot Gris (40%) and Pinot Blanc (20%). The philosophy follows a clear motto: "As little as possible, as much as necessary". This includes:

Minimal intervention in the cellar, spontaneous fermentation with natural yeasts and long yeast maturation .
Time as a decisive factor: "We give our wines time. Time, time and more time".
Focus on full-bodied, stimulating and clearly structured wines .

🏆 Well-known wines and international recognition

The wines are categorised into three quality levels: the estate wines, the "RS" reserve (for "Reserve Salwey") and the Grosse Gewächse (GG) from the large vineyards. The best-known wines include:

VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS® from the Kirchberg, Henkenberg, Steingrubenberg and Eichberg vineyards.
VDP.ORTSWEIN Oberrotweiler Grauburgunder RS - the elegant introduction to the world of Salwey.

The exceptional quality is regularly confirmed by top awards. The winery has been one of the 100 best in Germany for over 20 years. The 2022 Eichberg Spätburgunder GG won 1st place in the Falstaff Pinot Noir Trophy. The estate has also been honoured with top ratings: 5 grapes from Gault&Millau, 5 stars from Eichelmann and Falstaff and 5 Feinschmecker "F" .