PHILIPP DAVID CATOIR

VDP.ESTATE
MÜLLER-CATOIR

“WINEMAKING IS LIKE SEARCHING, FINDING, EXCAVATING AND POLISHING PRECIOUS STONES.”

PHILIPP DAVID CATOIR SPEAKS ABOUT HIS WINES AND WINE ESTATE IN NEUSTADT-HAARDT

Müller-Catoir

Mandelring 25
67433 Haardt

Phone+49 (0)6321/2815
Fax+49 (0)6321/480014
eMailweingut@mueller-catoir.de
Office Hours
Mo-Fr 8.00-12.00, 13.00-17.00; Sa 10.00-14.00
Owner

Philipp David Catoir

Cellarmaster

Martin Franzen

Member Since

2004

Wine Area

25,00 acres

Grape Variety

Riesling, Weissburgunder, Grauburgunder, Scheurebe, Muskateller, Rieslaner, Spätburgunder

Geology

Letten, Löss, lehmiger Kies

Growing Areas

Pfalz

Eco Certifications
  • EU-Bio-Zertifizierung

VDP: What is so special about your winery?

Philipp David Catoir: On the one hand, the impressive estate building, which is listed as a historical monument and on the other hand, a portfolio of first-class vineyard sites that we have cultivated for generations. One example is the directly adjacent monopole  vineyard site Bürgergarten ‘Im Breumel’. We have produced world-class wines from the Scheurebe and Rieslaner varieties, both so-called ‘children of Riesling’ - for several decades. Of course, there is also the exceptionally long family tradition, which is currently in its ninth generation! Everything put together, we pay attention to a harmonious overall combination of quality, continuity, stability and style.
 

VDP: What is your winery philosophy?

Philipp David Catoir: To distance ourselves from trends with inconspicuous sobriety and allow time to let things take their natural course.

VDP: For what wine style do you strive?

Philipp David Catoir: A triad of elegance, complexity and longevity.

VDP: Do you have a favourite variety grape variety?

Philipp David Catoir: Yes, Riesling, because it reveals the individuality of the terroir like no other white wine variety.

VDP: Which of your wines would you recommend to someone who doesn't yet know your winery – as an introduction, so to speak?

Philipp David Catoir: Our Riesling ‘MC’ VDP.GUTSWEIN, because it already exemplifies the characteristics of Müller-Catoir wines: finesse and vitality!

VDP: Of which wine are you particularly proud?

Philipp David Catoir: We want elegant, inimitable, dry wines that are full of character and characterised by their origin.

“WE DISTANCE OURSELVES FROM TRENDS WITH INCONSPICUOUS SOBRIETY AND ALLOW TIME TO THINGS TAKE THEIR NATURAL COURSE.”

VDP: Why did you become a vintner?

Philipp David Catoir: There was no special experience or enlightenment at all. Rather, it was a very secure fundamental feeling from an early age, a kind of calling to continue the family tradition of the house. And it’s a unique profession: making wine is comparable to searching, finding, excavating and polishing gemstones.

VDP: Do you have role models?

Philipp David Catoir: My father Jakob Heinrich Catoir and his cellar master Hans Günter Schwarz – both perfectionists and passionately dedicated masters of their trade.

Müller-Catoir
Riesling
VDP.GUTSWEIN

VDP: What are your next goals?

Philipp David Catoir: To let the historically important location ‘Neustadter Vogelsang’, which we took over together with Steffen Christmann at the beginning of 2018, blossom in new splendour!

VDP: How do you combine tradition and innovation?

Philipp David Catoir: Innovation is welcome wherever it can be expected to lead to significant improvements, for example in cellar technology. But what has proven its value must be preserved. Of course, we continue traditions that have proven their worth in terms of quality, such as meticulous handcraft, prolonged maturation on the lees, late bottling and other things.

©2022

Photos: Peter Bender