Terroir
Terroir means all natural factors that influence our wines.
Rainer Zierock describes with his pentagon his idea of making a perfect wine. The pentagon symbolizes the cycle of life as well as the spirit and the four elements. Following the Pentagon, we can describe the terroir of our complete winery and the impact of every procedure.
MARKGRÄFLERLAND
One of these crucial factors of the terroir is the region where our vineyards are located. Our grapes burgeon in the heart of the Markgräflerland, which lies in South Baden in the foothills of the Black Forest. The culture of the Markgräflerland is characterized by the international situation in the border triangle - Germany / Switzerland / France. Another culture-defining feature of the Markgräflerland is the Gutedel, the Margrave of Baden discovered in 1780 on a trip to Switzerland. The Gutedel is known by the swiss confederates as Fendant or Chasselas. The Margrave of Baden decided to grow the Chasselas in the fertile loam soil of the Markgräflerland. Till today, this is low-acid, mild white wine indigenous to us and we are very committed to give back to him the glory of bygone years.
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VINEYARD SITES
Our vineyards are located at the foot of the “Hoch-Blauen”, which is one of the highest mountains in the Black Forest.
Lina Kromer has dedicated a collection of poetry and a poem to the Blauen.
"Near Blauen is a sunny land of the vines, a liveable land full of fruit and wine, the Markgräflerland at the Rhine, you will not find a nice little country like this."
From the "Blauen" - as we say, our microclimate is very clearly influenced. The temperate climate and the light foehn winds provide ideal conditions for wine and cherry growing in our valley.Thus, it is given to us by nature, to vinify very fresh, fine and filigree wines. The soil structure of our vineyards is very various and ranges from lime-rich sites in the Gennenbacher Paradise, to strong volcanic rock soils in Feuerbacher Steingässle, up to heavy loess soils in Obereggenen and Mauchen. On the barren soil in Paradise and Steingässle only Pinot Noir are able to grow. These are ideal for our sparkling wines, also are excellently suited for our premium Pinot Noirs. With the sunny orientation we have the huge luck, that all of our locations are only sout-southwest angled, resulting in optimal sun exposure.
OBEREGGENER SONNENSTÜCK
The Obereggen sun piece is very clearly influenced by these conditions. The heavy loam soils with high humus contents offers the ideal conditions for our Pinot Blanc and Chasselas. The Pinot Blanc flourishes at about 380 meters above sea level, at the top of the Obereggen sun piece. This leads to a very good ventilation and so we get very healthy, aromatic wines from this site.
FEUERBACHER STEINGÄSSLE
The Feuerbacher stone lane is due to its special microclimatic conditions the ideal site to grow Pinot Noir. The vineyards are located in a cauldron that opens to the south as a valley. The loam soil there includes lime from Jura mountains and is very ferrous due to its high volcanic rock content. Through these unique geological soil forms, we are able to produce Pinot Noirs with a distinctive character. From these grapes we produce our Pinot Noir Volcano.
GENNENBACHER PARADIES
The Gennenbacher paradise offers similar conditions in the upper locations as stone lane in Feuerbach. Due to the lime-rich soil, the steep slope and the sun orientation, our small parcel in paradise is predestined as a location for Pinot Noir. In our lower parcels our Pinot Meunier (Black Riesling) thrives. Which, thanks the lime-rich soil structure, presents very low pH values and fits perfect for our sparkling wines.
MAUCHENER SONNENSTÜCK
In the Mauchener sun piece very fertile soils of medium-heavy loess loam soils are found. Due to its structure, this soil can store very large amounts of water. This is a huge advantage in very hot summer times. In addition to the Pinot Noir, our Chardonnay also thrives in Mauchen.
BIODYNAMIE
Biodynamics (Greek bios for life and dinamikòs for movement) is a method of agricultural renewal based on the principles of anthroposophy. Our biodynamic working method is based on the eight lectures of the Agricultural Course by Rudolf Steiner from 1924. Through respect for nature, we give our vine, branch and soil lives access to its natural powers back. A healthy soil is the basic requirement for strong and healthy vines, which produce by their vitality superior aromatic grapes. To make a very special wine out of these grapes is my great passion.
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We have the freedom to do things we believe in, to satisfy our expectations regarding our wine quality.
I believe that the origin of great wines is biodynamic cultivation in the vineyards and in oenology. Biodynamically produced wines show greater complexity on the palate, are more complex and provide more drinking enjoyment.
Since 2017, all areas of winery Greiners are biodynamically farmed. Which resulted in a major business restructuring, as not all fruits are as suitable for the biodynamic farming as the vine. Thus, I decided to restructure my father's fruit farm to a biodynamic winery. Small parts of the land of the paternal fruit farm are further cultivated and refined into first-class distillates. To improve soil fertility, as well as vine vitality, we rely on a consistent greening management, the biodynamic compounds, specially prepared composts and the application of homeopathic teas. With these measures, we retain the natural cycle and try to close the operating cycle. In our daily work in the vineyards we are subject to the strict requirements of the Demeter Association.
