PAUL SCHÄFER

VDP.ESTATE
Burggarten

"OF COURSE WE WORK TRADITIONALLY!"

PAUL SCHÄFER ÜBER SEINE WEINE UND SEIN WEINGUT IN BAD NEUENAHR-AHRWEILER

Burggarten

Landskroner Str. 61
53474 Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler / Heppingen

Phone+49 (0)2641 21280
Fax+49 (0)2641 79220
eMailburggarten@t-online.de
Office Hours
Mo - Fr 10:00 - 12:30 Uhr und 13:30 - 18:00 Uhr Sa - So 10:00 - 13:00 Uhr Feiertage 10:00 - 13:00 Uhr
Owner

Paul-Michael und Heiko Schäfer

Cellarmaster

Paul-Michael Schäfer

Member Since

2019

Wine Area

15,00 acres

Grape Variety

80% Spätburgunder, 5% Frühburgunder, 5% Grauburgunder, 5% Weißburgunder, 5% diverses

VDP: What is so special about your winery?

Paul Schäfer: We are a family business in which two generations live and work - and soon a third will join us! Of course, it is especially nice that we three brothers run the winery and that we harmonise well with each other. Hospitality is very important to us; you are welcome to see for yourself - in our 4-star guesthouse with 20 extraordinary rooms furnished according to wine themes.

VDP: What is your winery philosophy?

Paul Schäfer: Wine quality is created in the vineyard: Only the intensive manual work on our steep slopes guarantees the best grape quality in the winery. All our work is based on 4 pillars: respect, down-to-earthness, tradition and continuity.

VDP: What is your favourite grape variety?

Paul Schäfer: Pinot Noir. We develop all wines of this grape variety exclusively in wooden/barrique barrels. This is where we create wines with their own character and precise reference to the terroir.

VDP: Which of your wines would you recommend to someone who does not yet know your winery - as a start, so to speak?

Paul Schäfer: Our Pinot Noir ˝Vulkangestein˝ VDP.GUTSWEIN. You can already taste what our top wines of the respective vintage are made of?

VDP: Which wine are you particularly proud of?

Paul Schäfer: Hm, difficult question ... But if I should name just one, it is the KRÄUTERBERG Spätburgunder GG. This unique imprint of origin inspires me every year.

"So much fun came when i was 16 and my father left me directing a small vineyard".

VDP: Why did you become a winemaker?

Paul Schäfer: I was born into the winemaking profession just like my two brothers. Our parents were our role models and we are proud to continue this tradition. I really started having fun when I was 16 and my father let me direct a small plot of land - and I was allowed to make my first own wine! By the way, the first wine that blew me away - at the age of about 17 - was a Riesling Spätlese Mehringer Blattenberg from Heinz Schmitt.

VDP.GUTSWEIN
Spätburgunder
Vulkangestein

VDP: Do you have role models, mentors?

Paul Schäfer: Besides my father, there are two people who have shaped me on my path. On the one hand Rolf Münster, cellarmaster WG Mayschoß. I was allowed to complete part of my training with him. The other is Paul Schumacher, today Weingut Paul Schumacher. He was cellarmaster with us until 2001 and is still a close confidant.

VDP: What are your next goals?

Paul Schäfer: First of all: to introduce the next generation.

VDP: Are you holding on to tradition?

Paul Schäfer: Of course we work traditionally! I understand tradition as a positive collection of experiences. We are a rather young team, which is just as open to new things and tries out a lot. And when we gain a good and meaningful new experience, then it is included in the "collection".

VDP: What would you compare winemaking to?

Paul Schäfer: Our wines are always a very personal product, in which our emotions and mood are reflected. Comparable perhaps to cooking. Enthusiasm is also a very important ingredient here.

VDP: If your wine were music, what would it be?

Paul Schäfer: From smart beat to metal, everything is there.

© 2022
Photos: Peter Bender