The "Organic Wine & Sparkling Wine Estate Norbert Helde" is located in the municipality of Sasbach-Jechtingen (Kaiserstuhl area) in the German wine-growing region of
Baden. The roots of the winegrowing family go back to the time of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). The grandparents of the current owner Martin and Maria Helde started bottling wine during the Second World War. When Hermann and Gertrud Helde took over in 1960 and planted new vineyards and orchards, the winery developed to its present size. Since 2005, the winery has been run by Norbert Helde. The vineyards cover 8.5 hectares of vineyards in the single vineyards Eichert, Hochberg and Steingrube (Jechtingen). They are planted with the white wine varieties Riesling, Grüner Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Muscat and Müller-Thurgau, as well as with the red wine varieties Pinot Noir and Cabernet Carbon.
In 1990, the company switched to
organic farming and joined the
Bioland association one year later. Since 1992, all products have been certified according to these standards. Chemical
pesticides are not used. The focus is on natural
cover crop with herbs and flowering plants, and the rows of vines are spaced further apart than usual. Great importance is attached to selective harvesting with several passes. The wines are produced in stainless steel tanks, single-varietal and fruit-driven in four lines. The estate wines are produced by the litre without any indication of the vineyard. The traditional line includes dry wines from hand-sorted grapes from yield-reduced areas with 50 to 70 hl/ha. The selection wines from hand-sorted grapes come from old, yield-reduced vineyards. The premium line is named after the Jechtingen farmer and poet Emil Gött (1864-1908). Sparkling wines, bottle-fermented sparkling wines, liqueurs and noble brandies (marc, yeast, grape, wine, fruit) are also produced.
