Weingut Seckinger

Family business winery Seckinger

Josef Seckinger planted vines as a sideline at some point, but sold the grapes to surrounding wineries after the harvest. His sons Philipp and Jonas Seckinger, both studied enologists, however, wanted more. In 2012, they took over their parents' winery in Niederkirchen, Palatinate, and turned it upside down. They built a cellar near the vineyards, where they have been vinifying their own wines since then. And this with success, because the high quality of the Seckinger wines convinced from the beginning. Since 2014, the Seckinger winery has been certified organic, and in 2018, the conversion to organic cultivation was completely finished, and the cultivation is now biodynamic. The youngest Seckinger scion Lukas and Oliver Metzger are also involved in the business.

Viticulture at Seckinger

The wines at the Seckinger winery are all fermented spontaneously. The fermentation takes place mostly in large and small wooden barrels, without any technical wine treatment. The vines grow on old, once weather-beaten terraced sites which the Seckinger brothers find and recultivate on the edge of the Haard, such as the Deidesheim Petershöhle. The grapes are watched and controlled during the ripening period, and the selective harvest is done by hand.

The grape varieties

The main grape varieties planted by the Seckinger brothers are

• Riesling
• Pinot Blanc
• Pinot Gris
• Pinot Noir
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Sauvignon Blanc
• Chardonnay

The sites

These grape varieties grow on terraced sites on the edge of the Haard. Some of the most important Seckinger sites are located around Deidesheim:

• Kieselberg
• Langenmorgen
• Leinhöhle
• Mäushöhle
• Paradise Garden
• Peter's Cave
• Herrgottsacker

Further vineyards, which the Seckinger brothers cultivate, are:

• Königsbacher Ölberg
• Ruppertsberg Rider's Path
• Ruppertsberger Nussbien
• Ruppertsberger Linsenbusch

The farmed soils consist of Red and Yellow Buntsandstein with loess-loam and boulders. Only the Königsbacher sites have very limy soils.

The vineyards of the Seckinger estate are well protected from cold winds by the Haardt and the Palatinate Forest, 

The vinification

The Seckingers do not use any technical means in the cellar, the fermentation is 100% spontaneous, long maceration periods, long full yeast storage and wood barrel aging. The grapes are pressed gently, fining agents are not used.

The Seckinger wines are vinified in three qualities:

1. Estate wine: originate from the vineyards in Deidesheim, Niederkirchen and Rupperstberg, spontaneous fermentation in wooden barrels and stainless steel, the yield is 50-70 hl/ha
2. Local wines: come from first and great vineyards in Ruppertsberg, Deidesheim and Königsbach from 25-35 year old vineyards, spontaneous fermentation in wooden barrels and stainless steel, the yield is 35-55 hl/ha
3. Site wines: come from the smallest plots of the best sites in Königsbach, Ruppertsberg and Deidesheim, with old vines at minimal yields, spontaneous fermentation in wooden barrels, yield 15-30 hl/ha