The family business is located in the municipality of Illingen-Schützingen (Württembergisch Unterland area) in the German wine-growing region of
Württemberg. It was founded in 1987 by Johannes and Ilse Häge. An estate tavern is attached. Although it is a jointly managed family farm, two different wineries are run. Certain practices such as organic fertilisation are used in both. Nevertheless, there is a clear separation of the two farming methods. In the cellar, too, the conventional and the organic wines are vinified strictly separately.
Johannes Häge is responsible for the original vineyard. The vineyards cover a total of 3.3 hectares of vineyards with 1.9 hectares of steeply terraced plots in the single vineyard sites Closterweinberg (Maulbronn), Halde (Mühlhausen/Enz) and Schanzreiter (Illingen). They are planted with the red wine varieties Pinot Noir, Lemberger, Trollinger, Black Riesling, Dornfelder, Regent, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Mitos and Merlot, as well as with the white wine varieties Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat and Kerner. Bottle-fermented sparkling wines, semi-sparkling wines and noble brandies (marc, wine, fruit) are also produced. In years with suitable weather conditions,
ice wine is also produced.
Since 1984, part of the vineyard has been cultivated according to the guidelines for
organic viticulture. Since 2005, it has been run as a separate winery by organic winegrower Ilse Häge, and the wines are marketed with her own label. The vineyard area covers 2.15 hectares in the single vineyards Halde (Mühlhausen) and Heiligenberg (Schützingen). The red wine varieties Lemberger, Spätburgunder, Samtrot, Trollinger and Regent are cultivated, as well as the white wine varieties Riesling, Weißburgunder, Gewürztraminer and Rivaner.
The entire cellar management is located in the historic Schützinger wine press from 1658. White wines are fermented in stainless steel tanks in a controlled cool and slow manner and are stored on the
fine lees until shortly before bottling in March. Red wines are fermented exclusively on the mash in butts or a tank with a paddle for immersing the mash. All red wines except Trollinger and Schwarzriesling are aged for at least half a year in used barriques, during which time they lie on their
fine le es. In addition, there is also the ageing of selected varieties and qualities in new barriques.
