PETER WINTER

VDP.ESTATE
GEORG MÜLLER STIFTUNG

“ONE BOTTLE I’D LIKE TO ENJOY AGAIN IS THE 1943 MOUTON ROTHSCHILD.”

PETER WINTER SPEAKS ABOUT THE WINES AND WINE ESTATE OF THE GEORG MÜLLER FOUNDATION IN HATTENHEIM

Georg Müller Stiftung

Eberbacher Straße 7-9
65347 Hattenheim im Rheingau

Phone+49 (0)6723/2020
Fax+49 (0)6723/2035
eMailinfo@georg-mueller-stiftung.de
Office Hours
Mo-Fr 9.00-18.00; sowie nach Vereinbarung
Owner

Peter Winter

Betriebsleiter: Tim Lilienström
Cellarmaster

Tim Lilienström

Wine Area

21,90 acres

Grape Variety

80% Riesling, 15% Früh- und Spätburgunder sowie 5% Auxerrois, Ehrenfelser, Müller-Thurgau, Sauvignon Blanc und Roter Riesling

Geology

Lehmlössböden mit verschiedenen Eintragungen von Quarzit und anderen Gesteinsarten sowie anteilig Schwemmland

Sparkling Wine / Sekt
Sekterzeuger

VDP: What is so special about your winery?

Peter Winter: The connection between wine and art. An extraordinary portfolio of top-quality wines and grape varieties meets an impressive exhibition of modern works of art in the historic vaulted cellar. It is a symbiosis of taste and visual impressions at the highest level.

 

VDP: What is your winery philosophy?

Peter Winter: Heart and soul for the best quality!

VDP: For what wine style do you strive?

Peter Winter: Getting the best out of every wine! Delicacy and clarity as well as complexity and precision. Riesling and Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) are our absolute core competencies.

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

Peter Winter: The dry Riesling from the VDP.ERSTE LAGE® Hattenheimer Schützenhaus.

 

VDP: Of which wine are you particularly proud?

Peter Winter: Of our 2020 Hattenheimer Engelmannsberg Pinot Noir 1G VDP.ERSTE LAGE®, which was awarded "Germany's best Pinot Noir" by Mundus Vini at ProWein 2024.

 

“TIME STILL BRINGS THE GREATEST INCREASE IN QUALITY.”

VDP: Why did you become a vintner?

Peter Winter: I came to the wine business over 50 years ago only by chance. I intended to spend one to two years abroad in Great Britain and France. However, I stayed with that company for four decades – the final 17 years as CEO. One bottle I would like to enjoy again is the 1943 Mouton Rothschild. While arranging an appointment with a customer in England, he asked me what my year of birth was and invited me to a wine tasting in Pieroth after our meeting. A set table and a decanted 1943 bottle of Mouton Rothschild awaited me. This was in 1967 and I was only 24 years old; today I still regret that I was not yet able to fully appreciate that wine. Despite it all, since then, Pauillac is (next to Hattenheim, of course!) my favourite origin for top wines.

 

2019 WISSELBRUNNEN
Riesling
VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS®

VDP: Do you have role models?

Peter Winter: One mentor was James Vuletic, owner of the Providence winery in New Zealand and a former lawyer. He started his winery career at the age of 60, like me. His goal was and is to produce a wine in New Zealand that is comparable to Château Cheval Blanc. And he is on a sensational path.

VDP: What are your next goals?

Peter Winter: To work more traditionally. Modern methods only help to a limited extent. Time still brings the greatest increase in quality. I’d like to increase awareness through outstanding quality.

 

 

VDP: How do you combine tradition and innovation?

Peter Winter: We produce clear, pure, fruity wines. For this we use innovation. Otherwise we focus on tradition ... wine and time!