VDP.ESTATE
SCHLOSS PROSCHWITZ PRINZ ZUR LIPPE

“WE'RE JUST AS FAR NORTH AS THE AHR, ONLY 550 KILOMETERS TO THE EAST.”

DR. GEORG PRINZ ZUR LIPPE SPEAKS ABOUT HIS WINES AND HIS WINE ESTATE IN PROSCHWITZ ÜBER MEISSEN

Schloss Proschwitz - Prinz zur Lippe

Heiliger Grund 2
01662 Meissen OT Proschwitz

Phone+49 (0)3521/4767922
Fax+49 (0)3521/4767910
eMailweingut@schloss-proschwitz.de
Office Hours
Vinothek im Weingut: Mo-So 11:00-18:00
Owner

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe

Cellarmaster

Alexey Ryabov

Member Since

1996

Wine Area

71,30 acres

Grape Variety

16,1% Grauburgunder, 15% Müller-Thurgau, 12,2% Weissburgunder sowie Scheurebe, Elbling, Goldriesling, Spätburgunder & Dornfelder

Geology

6m mächtige Lösslehmschicht, darunter liegende Granitfelsen

Growing Areas

Sachsen

Sparkling Wine / Sekt
Sekterzeuger
Memberships
Eco Certifications
  • In Öko-Umstellung

VDP: What is so special about your wine estate?

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe: Geographically, we are just as far north as the Ahr, only 550 kilometres to the east. Our climate is continental, with many hours of sunshine. All our vineyards have similar soils: loess over metamorphic rock comprised of red granite and syenite. This also applies to our two monopole vineyards, the VDP.GROSSE LAGE® SCHLOSS PROSCHWITZ and the VDP.ERSTE LAGE® Kloster Heilig Kreuz. In the immediate vicinity of our vineyards in Proschwitz lies the baroque ensemble Schloss Proschwitz with a servant's house and a park, which is listed as a historic monument. The incomparable view from the Proschwitz vineyard to the Albrechtsburg Fortress and the cathedral in Meissen, the "cradle of Saxony", was voted the most beautiful wine view of Saxony by the German Wine Institute in 2016.

VDP: What is your winery philosophy?

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe: The linden tree leaf has symbolized the flavour profile of the Proschwitz wines for centuries. If you place 100 linden leaves next to each other, each leaf is different, but the basic leaf structure is reflected in all leaves. Like the linden leaf, Proschwitz wines always have a small, fine acid tip. The primary aromas of the wine are expressed like the indentations of the leaf. The metamorphic rock on which all our vineyards are based, rounds off the wines and lends them their lasting mineral component.

“WE STRIVE FOR UNIQUE, AUTHENTIC WINES AND NOT COPIES OF OTHER REGIONS.”

VDP: To which wine style do you aspire?

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe: Due to the continental climate in combination with the terroir, our region is able to produce very delicate, filigree and complex wines. We therefore strive for unique, authentic wines and not copies of other regions. The Pinot varieties seem to me to be particularly well suited to express the attributes of our terroir and climatic conditions.

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

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe: Our 2016 Kloster Heilig Kreuz, VDP.ERSTE LAGE® Spätburgunder, a dry Pinot Noir.


VDP: Of which wine are you particularly proud?

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe: DThat changes. Right now, I am particularly proud of our Traminer-Riesling from a centuries-old terraced vineyard. During the Christmas season it was our SCHLOSS PROSCHWITZ Spätburgunder VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS® that gave me tremendous pleasure.

VDP: Why did you become a vintner?

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe: I always had the dream of cultivating “my own little patch of land”. But since my family had lost all their property in Saxony after the Second World War, this wish was utopian. Nevertheless, I studied agriculture with a focus on viticulture and worked as a management consultant for several years. Only after the fall of the Berlin Wall did a small “window of history” open for me. At the beginning of 1990, I returned to the roots of my family in Saxony. With tremendous luck, I was able to re-purchase the former family vineyards in Proschwitz. My very first visit to this vineyard with its fantastic view over the Elbe valley fascinated me. That was the hour of birth of my life as a winegrower and the reconstruction of our family winery Schloss Proschwitz.

VDP: Do you have role models or mentors?

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe: Friends from the VDP who made it much easier for me to enter the world of winemaking.

VDP:What are your next goals?

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe: We are currently building a new wine shop and tasting room in a historic building on the castle grounds.

VDP: How do you combine tradition and innovation? Do you stick to traditions, if so, which ones?

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe: Our winery has a centuries-old history that I don't want to push aside. Nevertheless, I believe that traditions can only be preserved if the owner's gaze is broad and he remains open to new ideas by continuously striving for innovation.

VDP: Why should people visit your wine estate?

Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe: We are located just outside Dresden, in the city of Meißen, in the heart of a cultural landscape characterised by viticulture and in the former cultural centre of Europe.