"I'm the builder," says Ferdinand Koegler of himself. After an apprenticeship as a winemaker in the winery of the city of Frankfurt, he completed his studies at the Geisenheim University of Applied Sciences in viticulture and oenology. He learned through his internships at other wineries such as La Motte in South Africa and through his study supplement at the Wine University Davis California know completely new approaches to wine. Ferdinand Koegler took over the then 7 hectare winery at the age of 26. At a young age he was able to realize his individual ideas of good wine. That has him and the KOEGLER winery shaped to this day.

Pinot Noir is his great love. Here, new paths are being taken in the field work and in the cellar. Best barrique barrels from France in ever new variants (wood, toasting) are used to create a typical French Burgundy.

Which soil is suitable for which grape variety? Which location produces which type of wine? What is the microclimate like in the different vineyards? Only if you deal intensively with these questions can you achieve good wine quality in the long term. With this claim, we bring out what is typical of every vintage and combine the characteristics of different locations to create high-quality cuvées.

Sonnenberg

Our top location is traversed by a lime vein. It provides the vines for our expressive Pinot Noir "Rubeus" with an ideal root bed, very similar to the soil conditions in Burgundy. At higher altitudes, Taunus quartzite characterizes the soil, which gives the Riesling its elegant mineral notes. "Alta Villa" combines both: typical Riesling fruit aromas and spicy components, carried by a delicate creaminess. With these properties, the Sonnenberg has become the focus of our work in our house and we try to preserve the wonderful properties of this large soil through careful soil care and targeted vine work.

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veal duty

A location with history! More than 500 years ago, the calf meadows surrounded by a fence were referred to as "Flecht". This is where the name of the site came from, and the wines from these wines also make history: they are still classy even when they are old Note provided by the loamy soil with deep loess loam.

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long piece

The name of this excellent location comes from the shape of the terrain. The nature of the soil is extremely varied: in addition to deep loess and loess loam, there are floodplain soils with a high water holding capacity as well as clay and marl soils. Especially in dry years, this location ensures an optimal supply of nutrients and thus top quality and produces full-bodied wines with a distinctive acid structure.

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Taubenberg

The former symbol of fertility, the dove, was the inspiration for the name of this traditional location. Their wines leave an impression: their hallmarks are powerful aromas and a classy acid structure that is retained during storage. The Taubenberg soil, which characterizes the wines of this site, also offers an interesting structure: flat to deep phyllite soil to Aueboden with loess loam admixtures are its characteristics.

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Childish sandpit

Sand was once mined here and gave this location its name. But this special soil is also characterized by loess, loess loam, gravel and tertiary limestone. A blend that is also reflected in the great variety of wines that it produces. What they have in common is the acids that are harmoniously integrated into the aroma.

Our wines are children of nature

A good wine needs a strong foundation of soil, microclimate, cellar technology and a lot of experience. We have to understand our soil and nature and implement this knowledge on a year-to-year basis: The microclimate of the year determines the tillage, the pruning of the vines and plant protection through to the selection of the grapes at harvest. The aim of our work is always to bring fully ripe and healthy grapes to the cellar. The grapes are gently pressed and the must is given its time to mature in our barrels into the wine that nature gives us and yet bears our signature.

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fieldwork

The quality of the wine begins with the pruning, which determines the later harvest. Then comes the tending of the vineyard until autumn, when the grapes are harvested before going to the cellar. We harvest the majority of the grapes for our wines by hand in small crates. In this way, the grapes can reach the wine cellar undamaged. The harvest then shows whether the interaction of the vintage-specific climate and our work in the vineyards was successful.

a cycle

Pruning wood, leaves, rape and pomace are brought back into the vineyards and worked into them. In this way we try to return all the nutrients taken by the vine back to the vineyards. In order to increase the humus content and thus the soil activity, we drive green waste compost into the vineyards and can thus limit mineral fertilizers to an absolute minimum. Good soil management and the sowing of different grain mixtures also help to bind the nutrients in the soil over the winter and protect them from leaching. In this way, we have a balanced supply of nutrients for the vines during the vegetation period, so that our grapes can thrive.

As much as necessary, but as little as possible

We cultivate our vineyards according to the standards of integrated plant protection, i.e. we only use preparations that are gentle on plants and beneficial organisms to combat our three most important fungal diseases on the vine (powdery mildew, downy mildew and Botrytis cinerea) and have not used insecticides for several years. Combined with modern plant protection equipment, various forecast models, natural plant strengtheners and professional know-how, we can reduce plant protection to the necessary level.

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cellar technology

Once in the cellar, the grapes are selected again by hand. Only really healthy grapes become good wines. The grapes for our white wines are first crushed, then remain on the mash for half a day to a maximum of three days at low temperatures in order to be able to absorb the aromas of the grapes in the juice. The grapes are then pressed and placed in barrels for fermentation.

Wines that are drunk young, such as our summer or estate wines, develop their quality early on in stainless steel tanks. Our other Rieslings from Ortswein to Großer Gewächs mature in large wooden barrels. This maturity gives the wines a special smoothness and longevity. Temperature-controlled fermentation takes place in the barrels for about 3 months, followed by the wines being stored on fine yeast. We filter the wines as little as possible and largely do without fining filters to give them their harmony.

After cold maceration, our red wines are placed in large wooden barrels for traditional mash fermentation. This allows the aromas and color of the grape juice to be absorbed. This process is a prerequisite for the taste and longevity of the red wines. We continue to take the more complex route and deliberately avoid using carbonic acid, which makes the wines drinkable more quickly.

After pressing, all our red wines are placed in barrique barrels and usually remain there for 18 to 24 months to mature. We use the best French oak barrels from manufacturers who also supply the large wineries in Burgundy. The selection of the wood, the toasting and the experience of the barrel maker make a contribution to the quality of the wine that should not be underestimated.

Due to the expansion in barriques, the red wines show the typical berry aromas. Due to the long maturation process, we obtain very complex red wines with great longevity that do not have to shy away from international comparison.