Weingut Kiefer

History of the Kiefer Winery

The Kiefer winery in Eichstetten am Kaiserstuhl in Baden was founded in 1851 by Friedrich Kiefer. Kiefer, who came from the Markgräflerland, was himself a teacher and, with his enthusiasm and love for wine, began something completely new. 35 years later his son Fritz Kiefer took over the winery and ran the business until 1930. The Baden winery Kiefer then always remained in family hands, but in 2008 there was ultimately no longer an interested successor. However, the Kiefer winery was fortunate, because Martin Schmidt, who had already been working as operations manager in Eichstetten since 2003, took over the winery with his wife Helen in 2008 and expanded it to its current 15 hectares. In addition, Schmidt can also draw on grapes from various contract winegrowers for the Kiefer wines, which brings him a further 92 hectares in total.

What makes Kiefer’s wines special

Today, Helen and Martin Kiefer primarily ensure that Kiefer wines are young, modern, true to variety and honest.

“For us, wine is a profession, hobby and passion.”

According to them, authentic and exciting wines are Kiefer’s goal. At the same time, the Baden wines should not only be modern, but also reflect the soils and the climate of their sites. That is why the loving care of the vineyards and the gentle, individual maturation of the wines is so particularly important. For example, at the Kiefer winery the wine is gently bottled by avoiding unnecessary pumping processes and relying mainly on the helping hand of gravity in the cellar.

In the vineyard, too, Kiefer lays the foundation for high wine quality with a lot of manual work. This begins with fully ripe grapes, harvested in vineyards with low yields and then gently pressed. Only in this way can it be ensured that the taste of the fully ripe grapes – with their wonderful play of aromas and fruit acids – can be found again in the wines of the Kiefer winery.

The range of grape varieties at the Kiefer winery extends from regional kings to international classics and insider tips. At Kiefer they cultivate:

• Pinot Noir
• Riesling
• Pinot Gris
• Chardonnay
• Sauvignon Blanc
• Müller-Thurgau
• Scheurebe

However, it is not only Kiefer’s wines that are strikingly good; the names also stay in your memory forever. 

Best sellers from the Kiefer Winery

In recent years, Kiefer has developed wine brands that have become true best sellers at VINELLO:

• Mit den Wolken ziehen (Drifting with the Clouds)
• Schmetterlinge im Bauch (Butterflies in the Stomach) or
• Die Freude teilen (Sharing the Joy)

are just some of the names that Helen and Martin Schmidt have given their cuvées from top Baden grape varieties.

The bag-in-box wines from Kiefer are also extremely popular.