“This is my passion, not my job” – An Interview with Siegbert Bimmerle
I would love to be the person who has the time and resources to visit each and every winery in the world. There are so many good ones out there and to be honest we probably don’t know about half of them. Siegbert Bimmerle is the owner of Bimmerle Wines in Baden Germany. His vineyard is a family-owned operation that was founded in 1936 by his grandfather Josef Bimmerle. With 45 hectares of vines, half planted with red varieties and half with white, Siegbert is producing some extraordinary tipples. They are sure to make you go back for more and more until… uhh ohh… the bottle is gone! I had the chance to speak one-on-one with Siegbert recently to find out about his award winning wines and why-oh-why I can’t buy a bottle at my local bottleo shop yet…
What is Bimmerle’s philosophy to making wine?
Quality comes first. This is what matters to us and this starts with the vines in the vineyard. Intense care is taken during the vintage with careful handling of the grapes. During the wine making process we work hard to bring out the best quality year by year. Furthermore we aim for a better quality each and every vintage.
Siegbert, what sort of training/education have you had?
Besides my education as a vine cellar man (Weinküfer), it is not the professional experience which I believe is the most important. The most important is my affinity to the vine. This is my passion, not my job.
I have read that you have maybe, ‘the most modern winery anywhere on the planet,’ can you please tell me what makes your winery so modern?
Yes, it is true. We have just built a new wine factory with the most modern manufacturing in our region (Ortenau / Baden). For example the containers that our grapes are transferred in are very small containers. The advantage is that the grapes are not squeezed and are transferred gently. The grapes are freshly pressed with one of the most modern membrane press machines in the area. The machine is very slow and soft and it takes about 6 hours to process each batch of grapes. If we cannot handle the grapes while they are arriving we put them into a special cooling system for freshness. We make sure the transition is short for the grape / juice from delivery to the tank. This is important for the fermentation. We have 84 small tanks from 200 Liter up to 6.000 Liter. So we are able press each grape variety individually. We are using modern techniques combined with know-how. All our wines have received accolades and medals each and every year both nationally and internationally. In 2011 we received for the 3rd time the highest honoury award for the highest rating vineyard in the area for achieving best consecutive results throughout the years.
I see you have the ‘Wine Sanctuary’ for events; do you also welcome tourists to stop in for a tour and tasting? Can people show up, or do they need to contact the winery first? What would the charge be?
Yes, visitors are welcome for a tasting. We also have a local store in our winery. So, if it is a small group of up to 5 or 10 people they can just show up and taste at our bar. However if they would like to have a guided tasting they need to book in advance. We charge a minimum of 14,00 Euros per person for a guided tasting. Please note the tasting at the bar could be done a bit cheaper.
Currently your website is only in German, will an English version be available in the near future? In the meantime for English speakers, what is the best way to contact the winery for further information?
So far we are just making wine just for the German market. Before we move on to sell our wines in other countries we would like be sure that we are very well known in our home country. After we have grown so much and our wine is well known, we will start to work on exporting. Therefore we have not translated our website, but we will do it soon. We have already translated some information for our customers together with Mrs. Claudia Pech of the German Wine Agencies in London. She is coordinating our wine business in England and is happy to help with any enquires about our wines or winery.
What is your favourite wine from your range?
Spätburgunder Rotwein (Pinot Noir) – Im Holzfass gereift [aged in wooden barrels]
Thank-you Siegbert for your time and after tasting your wines I have a new appreciation for the ‘new generation’ of German wines coming onto the market. I’m looking forward to the day I can order some over to New Zealand to accompany a nice Kiwi lamb roast.
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