Schäfer-Fröhlich

Brief report: Schäfer-Fröhlich Winery (Nahe)

History & location

The Schäfer-Fröhlich winery is located in the small community of Bockenau in the heart of the Nahe wine-growing region. The Fröhlich family has been growing wine here for more than 200 years. However, the more recent success story began in the 1970s with a marriage that coined the name "Schäfer-Fröhlich". The winery experienced a decisive upswing when Tim Fröhlich took over the management in the 1990s and pressed his first vintage in 1995. Under his aegis, the estate rose to the absolute top class in Germany. The vineyards cover21 hectares and are among the best sites on the Nahe , characterised by steep slopes and barren, rocky soils of Devonian slate, quartzite and porphyry.

Wine philosophy & grape varieties

Tim Fröhlich's clear philosophy is to reflectthe pure character of the respective terroirin his wines . To achieve this, the grapes are meticulously selected in the vineyard and the ageing process in the cellar is extremely gentle and minimalist. A special feature is spontaneous fermentation, in which only wild, natural yeasts are used to emphasise the uniqueness of the vintage .

The vineyardsare 85% planted with the noble variety Riesling. The remaining 15% is made up of Burgundy varieties (such as Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir). While the estate's base wine, the dry Riesling, is considered a calling card, the wines from the large vineyards such as Felseneck (the estate's monopole vineyard) or Stromberg are among the best and most expressive Rieslings in Germany.

Awards

The outstanding quality of the wines is emphasised by a large number of national and international awards. For example, the winery was named "Winemaker of the Year" (2010) and "Winery of the Year" (2011)by Gault&Millau. The ratings from publications such as James Suckling (2019 5th place in the Top 100 wines) and Robert Parker(98 Parker points for the 2016 Felseneck) also speak volumes about the exceptional class of this top winery on the Nahe.