Sekthaus Raumland

Sekthaus Raumland - the dream of your own sparkling wine

Sekthaus Raumland is a family business in Flörsheim-Dalsheim in the Palatinate. Volker Raumland already grew up in an agricultural family with a vineyard, so he came into contact with wine at an early age. Even though he was drawn to this profession, his parents "put" him into a commercial apprenticeship. Since the whole thing seemed too empty to him, he then studied viticulture in Geisenheim. At the university, he came into contact with sparkling wine production for the first time and was so enthusiastic that he then transformed a Müller Thurgau into sparkling wine directly in his parents' cellar. His sparkling wine won a blind tasting a few months later, which Volker saw as a sign to dedicate himself completely to the obvious vocation.

The Raumland sparkling wine company is born

In 1984 the first Raumland sparkling wine was produced. The grapes came from his parents' vineyard and the sparkling wine was produced by bottle fermentation. Two years later he met his future wife Heide-Rose. In 1990, both bought the Villa Merkel in Flörsheim-Dalsheim, plus 4 hectares of vineyard. The foundation stone was laid in the next few years, Volker was on the road a lot and was practically a migrant worker. With a mobile refinement plant he drove from vintner to vintner and produced sparkling wine from their grapes.

The new generation at Sekthaus Raumland

In 1997 Carole Lefèvre joined the company, actually only for an internship. In the end, it was seven years in which the Raumlands further developed the wines together with her. In 2005, the Gault Millau awarded a Raumland sparkling wine for the first time, a big milestone. In 2015, the family opened their new vinotheque, and in 2019, their daughters Katharina and Marie-Luise joined the family business. With them, the change towards more sustainability is also taking place in the company. Finally, Raumland has been a member of the VDP since 2020.

Sparkling wine production at Sekthaus Raumland

Three important pillars make up Raumland's sparkling wines today:

• Organic viticulture
• Méthode Traditionnelle
• long yeast storage

The wine and the methods

The wine comes from vineyards in Rheinhessen and the Pfalz, which are characterised by limestone, loess and marl soils. The wines, like the first, are still classically made using bottle fermentation, also known as the Méthode Traditionnelle, as more modern methods now rely on pressurized tanks. This classic ageing method is still the spearhead of sparkling wine production and is also used for Champagne, for example. Equally typical is the long yeast storage, which lasts at least 36 months. Individual wines are matured in the bottle for up to 120 months.

Step by step to Raumland sparkling wine

In the cellar, the grapes are pressed in stages so that only the core, the so-called cuvée of the grape, is used. The base wines are fermented in stainless steel and wooden barrels and then aged on their lees. Each plot is vinified individually so that the base wines retain their character. The subsequent cuvee to blend the wines can take several months.

This is followed by tirage, where a mixture of must, yeast and sugar is added to kick off the second fermentation. This is followed by the long bottle ageing, after which the wines are then placed in shaking boxes and turned to move the yeast into the neck of the bottle. Once settled, the yeast is removed by icing the neck of the bottle and removing the stopper. Dosage is added to compensate for the loss.

The sparkling wines of Raumland

Three lines are offered by the Raumland sparkling house today:

• Tradition (36 months of yeast ageing)
• Réserve (90 months storage)
• Grande Réserve (120 months of ageing)