↳ Staffelter Hof
Germany, Kröv
The first mention of the Staffelter Hof estate and house was found in documents dated 862 AD. It has been in the current family however since 1805, when they bought it from Napoleon's government. Quite a few of the oldest estates in the region began their journey in a similar fashion.
Since then, the winery has been handed down from generation to generation of the same family. It was primarily a bulk wine production until the late 50's when current winemaker Jan Klein's grandfather took over the winemaking.
Jan Mattias Klein took over from his father in 2005 as winemaker (aged 28). He continued to make classic Rieslings for a few years but in 2010/2011 started to change his thinking towards the future of the winery, and generally the future of the planet. He converted all of the vineyards to organic, and moving to a more minimal style of winemaking, which also included reducing the level of SO2 used in the winemaking (Germany is known for very high levels due to residual sugar and potent acid). The viticulture has been 100% organic since the 2012 vintage, and the estate is now certified as of 2014.
