Visit of a Small, Premium Sekt Producer: Sektkellerei Bardong in the Rheingau, Germany – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), Germany

Picture: At Sektkellerei Bardong in the Rheingau, Germany, with Norbert Bardong

With this visit on the last day of the tour we honored the German’s affinity with the bubbly stuff. Did you know that the Germans are world champions in sparkling wine consumption? And that “Rotkäppchen” in Freyburg, in the Saale-Unstrut region is the world’s second largest sparkling wine producer after Freixenet? And that there are many top rated Sekt producers in Germany?

Our visit took us to one of the small, top notch Sekt (the German word for sparkling wine) producers. Norbert Bardong studied beverage technology at the Geisenheim Oenological University when he fell in love with Champagne and decided to make his own Sekt in the méthode traditionnelle to have a sparkler on par with the quality of the Champagne region. His philosophy: no mass production, top quality, “small but beautiful”, first class base wines, at least 36 months on the lease. We will learn on the ground what it entails to produce a first class Sekt.

Norbert and Renate Bardong were our host. They showed us around in the cellar and explained how they make their sparklers, followed by a sit-down tasting in the cellar of Sektkellerei Bardong.

Pictures: Welcome at Sektkellerei Bardong in the Rheingau

Sekt in Germany

Germany is one of the largest sparkling wine markets in the world. One out of four bottles of sparkling wine is consumed in Germany. Sparkling wine produced in Germany is called Sekt.

Sekt is made in all German wine regions, both in the méthode traditionnelle and charmat method. There are three groups of Sekt makers: (i) large and (ii) smaller Sekt Houses that only make Sekt and (iii) wine makers, who make predominantly wine, but complement their wine selection by a few Sekts. The Sekts produced by large Sekt Houses tend to be in the demy-sweet and sweet range, while the Sekts of smaller estates and the wine makers are mostly in the brut and extra brut range. The Bardong Sekts are mostly brut, with some being extra brut.

There is a dozen or so large Sekt Houses in Germany, most of them established in the 1800s at the same time as the French Champagne Houses. At that time, there was only one method known to produce Sekt, the méthode traditionnelle. But in contrast to the Champagne Houses, the large German Sekt Houses all moved to the charmat method (in a tank) as main method of the second fermentation after World War II. Like the Champagne Houses, Sekt Houses do not own vineyards, but purchase the base wine from wine makers. More than three quarters of the base wine used to make Sekt is imported from other EU countries, essentially Italy, France and Spain. Sekt can only be labeled as Deutscher Sekt if it is made exclusively from German grapes, which is rare in the case of the large and the smaller Sekt Houses. Most of the Sekt Houses have beautiful chateau-type facilities with old underground cellars for the second fermentation and storage. Overall, these Sekts are reasonably priced, are of good quality, but with the introduction of the charmat method are no longer in the same class as their counterparts in the champagne region.

Pictures: Cellar Tour at Sektkellerei Bardong in the Rheingau, Germany, with Norbert Bardong

Like the large Sekt Houses, the smaller Sekt Houses – and Sektkellerei Bardong belongs to this group - do not own vineyards, but also buy the base wine from wine makers. They also tend to have a long history and often links to the champagne region, beautiful facilities and old cellars for the second fermentation and storage. The big difference is that they typically have not gone the route of tank fermentation but continue to ferment in the méthode traditionnelle.

Finally, there is a number of top quality winemakers, who, in addition, to their still wines, have started to include Sekts in their portfolio. These Sekts are typically vintage Sekts, from a specified vineyard, made of specific grapes, often Riesling, in the méthode champenoise and with little dosage (brut or extra but). While the first fermentation typically takes place at the winery, the second fermentation is often not in the cellar of the wine maker but in the cellar of a Sekt House that bottle-ferments for other wineries. Norbert Bardong started his Sekt House that way and still makes Sekt for winemakers, but has over time established his own portfolio of Sekts. Currently, about half of his production is accounted for by Sekt made for winemakers and half for the Bardong portfolio.

Sektkellerei Bardong

Norbert Bardong: We do not produce any cuvées, we only make lieu-dit and vintage sparkling wines. The base wines are high-quality Kabinett wines whose fine aromas are to be found in Bardong sparkling wines.

Sektkellerei Bardong was founded by Norbert Bardong in the vaults of the former sparkling wine cellars of Schloss Rheinberg and Schloss Waldeck in Geisenheim in 1984. Norbert Bardong discovered his love of sparkling wine after studying Beverage Technology at the renowned wine university in Geisenheim and completing various internships, including one in the Champagne Region. It did not take him long to reach the decision to refine the wines of his Rheingau home district by himself to produce sparkling wines using the traditional method of classic bottle fermentation.

Pictures: Sekt Tasting at Sektkellerei Bardong in the Rheingau, Germany, with Norbert Bardong

All of the sparkling wines of Sektkellerei Bardong are produced by hand using this method in order to guarantee their high quality. The base wines for these sparkling wines are Kabinett wines. There are no cuvees at Bardong, only sparkling wines made from one grape variety, from one single vineyard and from one vintage.

For the second fermentation, Norbert Bardong explained that he adds 26 gr of sugar. This produces a pressure of 6 bar (compared with 2 bar in a car tire).

All his sparkling wines mature on the yeast for at least 36 months – just like vintage champagne – and some for even up to 20 years, which helps them to develop their very special fine bubbles, delicious lightness and wonderful mellowness. The legal minimum requirement is 9 months.

Annual production is 100.000 bottles. Riesling grapes account for 75 % and Pinot Noir grapes for 15 %.

The Sekts Norbert and Renate Bardong Poured

2010 Sektkellerei Bardong Erbacher Honigberg brut Rheingau Riesling

2008 Sektkellerei Bardong Weissburgunder brut Rheingau

2006 Sektkellerei Bardong Chardonnay brut Rheingau

2010 Sektkellerei Bardong Blanc de Noir brut Spätburgunder Assmannshausen

Was almost 10 years on the lees.

2005 Sektkellerei Bardong Assmannshäuser Frankenthal extra brut Spätburgunder Rheingau

2008 Sektkellerei Bardong Hölder brut Saale Unstrut

1998 Sektkellerei Bardong Bardong Riesling Reserve brut Rheingau

Bye-bye

Thanks for a wonderful experience, Norbert.

Pictures: Bye-bye

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