Weingut Salwey - Baden, Germany

The Style of Our Wines

We cultivate our vineyards with great respect for the climate, plants and animals. Our top location, Kichberg, borders one of the best protected nature reserves in the country. Without exception, the grapes are brought in by hand and gently transported to the first grape selection. Without exception, we produce dry, fully fermented wines. The style is clear and straightforward and is only determined by the variety and minerality of the terroir - volcano or loess. The wines are largely aged in wooden barrels made from Kaiserstuhl oak and matured in their own mountain cellar.

Our top locations are - VDP.GROSSE LAGE - are HENKENBERG, KIRCHBERG and EICHBERG.

"The wines are all through fermentation ... and yet very low in alcohol, puristically clear and precise with a pronounced acidity, which is very reminiscent of Burgundy." - Eichelmann 2018

Kirchberg VDP. GROSSE LAGE 

The KIRCHBERG - our "local mountain" and we are proud it. It consists of hard, barren volcanic rock, called tephrite, also crossed by limestone veins. For decades, ballast stones were mined inside with the help of dynamite. Today, it is a nature reserve. In summer it is an ember furnace in which only the old vines that are already deeply rooted can survive. A real gem in which we own an impressive 4.5 hectares of vineyards. These are all on steep slopes with a slope of up to 45%. The cool westerly winds from France ensure that the grapes dry out quickly and are in good health, giving the wines a firm acid structure. This is balanced by a high concentration and high of tannins from the volcanic subsoil. In combination, this leads to extremely long-lasting wines that impressively reflect the landscape of the Kaiserstuhl.

Henkenberg VDP. GROSSE LAGE

 At first glance you tend to overlook it, it is so inconspicuous - more of a flat back than a mountain. However, the subsoil of the HENKENBERG consists of cooled, weathered lava flows, interspersed with limestone veins. This layer is covered by dark volcanic ash. The moderate slope and unique water storage capacity of the upper class protect the vines from excessive heat. The large plants of white, gray and pinot noir come from our best plots, planted with old vines. These parcels are called STEINGRUBENBERG, BÜCHSENBERG, BLUTBÜCKLE and GALGENBUCK, since the HENKENBERG used to be a manorial place of execution.

Eichberg VDP. GROSSE LAGE

The EICHBERG is an imposing, completely sun-exposed cone with black volcanic ash and dark, porous tuff soils. Our plots are east-facing and thus protected from the scorching afternoon heat of the Kaiserstuhl. Our Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris come from the deeply rooted old vines, with small berry grapes from the original small terraced areas. The independent wines of the EICHBERG are flavoured by clear fruit, yet mineral and powerful and have great ageing potential.

Salwey's Mountain Cellar

 We are very proud of the mountain cellar at our headquarters in Oberrotweil. Wolf-Dietrich Salwey had it driven into the mountain in 1997 using the best tunnelling technology. The main tunnel is around 35 m long, the side tunnel, on the other hand, is "only" 25m long, and the soil cover varies between 4 and 12m. We achieve very constant temperatures between 11.5 and 13 degrees Celsius all year round. With a built-in sprinkler system, we can also influence the humidity. All of this benefits our red wines, whose ageing in barriques we can optimally control under these conditions.