Monday, March 3, 2025

Saale-Unstrut: The Top Winemakers - Vinum WeinGuide Deutschland/ Germany 2025

The Vinum Weinguide Deutschland 2025 was released recently, presenting Vinum's choice of Germany’s best 1,000 wine producers and reviewing more than 10,500 wines on 1,080 pages.

5 out of 5 stars („world class“) was awarded to 26 estates. In addition, there are 36 estates with 4.5 stars, and 77 estates with 4 stars.

Vinum Saale-Unstrut

In the Saale-Unstrut region, there is 1 producer with 4 stars, 1 producer with 3.5 stars and 3 producers with 3 stars.

Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, and I have visited all 3 producers with 5 stars and 2 of the 3 producers with 4.5 stars over the past years during a Germany wine tour by ombiasy WineTours, which is owned and run by Annette Schiller and based in Washington DC, USA.

Saale-Unstrut

(London Wine Competition)

The German wine region of Saale-Unstrut, located almost entirely within the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, is defined primarily by two rivers – the Saale and the Unstrut. It is also the northernmost of all of Germany’s wine regions, meaning that the most popular wines here are those that thrive in cooler climates.

In terms of white and red wines, white grape varietals account for nearly three-quarters (74%) of all wine production in Saale-Unstrut. The most popular white grape varietals include Müller-Thurgau (18.4%), Pinot Blanc (12.1%), Silvaner (8.3%) and Blauer Portugieser (6.7%). Popular red varietals include Dornfelder (7.3%).

Unlike in many of Germany’s other wine regions, Riesling wines do not account for the dominant share of wine production. According to the most recent available estimates, Riesling only accounts for 7.3% of all wines from this region.

Due to the cooler climate and shorter growing season, wines from Saale-Unstrut are known for their acidity, which many wine drinkers describe as refreshing. Many of the most popular vineyards are growing along the hill slopes of the river valleys.

Winemaking in Saale-Unstrut has existed since the 990s, when the Memleben Abbey was a famed producer of white wines. As in other areas of Germany, wine villages along the major river valleys sprung up in response to the demand for wines. Saale-Unstrut, though, has been largely overshadowed by other larger and more popular German wine regions, such as Mosel. In 1993, the Burgenlandkreis district within Saale-Unstrut opened a wine route for tourists to sample the wines of this northern German wine region.

Visiting Award Winning Producers

Pawis - 4 Stars

Pictures: Tour and Tasting at Weingut Pawis (VDP) in Freyburg, Saale-Unstrut, with Christian Pawis - Germany "From Berlin to Frankfurt" 2023 (Saale Unstrut, Sachsen, Franken, Württemberg) by ombiasy WineTours

Picture: Weingut Pawis in the Saale Unstrut Region: Tour and Wine Tasting with Marcus Pawis – Germany-East Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours

Picures: Annette Schiller and Bernhard Pawis, Weingut Pawis, at Kloster Eberbach, Rheingau

Pictures: Christian Schiller with Bernhard Pawis at Weingut Pawis in the Saale Unstrut Region

Picture: Christian Schiller and Kerstin Pawis at Weingut Pawis: Riesling!!!

Klaus Böhme - 3 Stars

Picture: Christian Schiller and Ina Paris. See: Weingut Klaus Boehme in Saale Unstrut in Germany

Gussek - 3 Stars

Pictures: Tasting at Weingut Gussek in Naumburg, Saale-Unstrut, with André Gussek - Germany "From Berlin to Frankfurt" 2023 (Saale Unstrut, Sachsen, Franken, Württemberg) by ombiasy WineTours

Picture: Winzerhof Gussek in the Saale Unstrut Region: Cellar Tour, Vineyard Tour and Tasting with Owner and Winemaker André Gussek – Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)

Hey - 3 Stars