The winery is located in the municipality of Wachenheim in the German wine-growing region of
Pfalz. It was founded in 1756. The villa, built in 1843 in the Palladian style, as well as a wine cellar, provide ample space for tastings, events, seminars and conferences. In 1996, after several changes of ownership, the winery was taken over by
Dr. Loosen (
Moselle growing region) and renamed
Villa Wolf by J.L. Wolf. Since 2001, Patrick Möllendorf and Sumi Gebauer have been responsible for the production of the wines and the care of the vineyards.
The vineyards correspond to the vineyard classification of the Royal Bavarian Government of 1828. They cover 8.4 hectares of vineyards, which are distributed among the single vineyards
Pechstein = Grosse Lage (Forst),
Hoheburg (Ruppertsberg), as well as Goldbächel,
Königswingert and in the monopoly Belz = Erste Lagen (Wachenheim). More than 90% of them are planted with Riesling, the rest with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.
The vineyards are cultivated according to the principles of
sustainable,
non-invasive (minimalist) viticulture, with only organic
fertilisation or no chemical fertilisers and
herbicides. Through the preservation of old vines, and the associated low yields, mainly dry wines with site character are produced from
physiologically ripe and healthy grapes. Grapes affected by
botrytis are always selected and, if possible, made
noble sweet.
The selectively harvested grapes are macerated or
whole cluster pressed, depending on the vintage. If possible, fermentation is initiated
spontaneously with natural yeasts in stainless steel or large wooden barrels. The naming is based on the
Burgundian classification system. Only the producer, vintage, location and grape variety are listed on the front label; all legal information is included on the back label. Premium wines from classified sites (Grosse Lage or Erste Lage) are marketed with site designations, all wines from other sites as local or estate wines. The wines are sold in over 40 countries worldwide.
