ESTATE
The estate is today in the hands of Wolfgang, Ulrich, Luitgard, Liselotte, and Philipp. Three generations with their own experience, knowledge, and curiosity. Wolfgang, Ulrich and Philipp are responsible for the organization, viniculture, and viticulture. Liselotte tends to private customers, and emeritus boss Luitgard plays host to shared lunches while distributing wise counsel.
Our estate is housed in the Zehnthof, a farm first founded in 1558 by the prince-bishop. The ancient vaulted cellars offer ideal conditions for raising our wines. We and our team put an absolute priority on classic craftsmanship, and on producing authentic wines of origin from traditional grape varieties.
In the early 1960s, Luitgard and Theo Luckert decided to move completely into winegrowing. Their small operation, which at the time was still situated on Langengasse, initially produced bulk wine, but very quickly switched over to bottled wine.
It was in this era, in the wake of wide-scale land consolidation measures by the government, that they planted their first Weißburgunder vines on the Sonnenberg. It was a step viewed as equal parts unusual and visionary at the time.
In the early 1970s, the once-in-a-lifetime chance arose to purchase Zehnthof, the prince-bishop’s former estate. The renovations were a mammoth undertaking, taking twelve long years to complete, but the cellar and estate building were ready for use in time for the 1975 vintage. Even today, we remain awestruck and grateful for their courageous steps.
Over time, the purchase of new vineyards and replanting of existing ones led to a rise in our share of the traditional grape variety Silvaner.
Ulrich completed his apprenticeship at the Fürstlich Castell'schen Domänenamt in 1991, and soon thereafter joined the estate as well. After Theo’s passing, Luitgard, Wolfgang and Ulrich continued to manage the estate.
To keep yields low, they transitioned the vineyards to cordon cutting, and began putting a stronger emphasis on raising the wines in traditional wood barrels.
By 2007, the chance arose to lease a parcel of Weißburgunder in a section of the Sulzfelder Berg, full of ancient shell limestone terraces that had not seen consolidation during the Flurbereinigung. These vineyards marked the inception of our transition to organic viticulture—a personal passion, and also a guarantee of top-quality grapes.
Philipp began his apprenticeship as a winegrower in 2008 under Sebastian and Paul Fürst in Bürgstadt. After stops at Weingut Christmann, Franz Hirtzberger, and Philipp Wittmann, as well as studies in Geisenheim, he returned to Sulzfeld in 2014.
In the past decade, the estate has added more than a dozen new stück and doppelstück barrels to the cellar, as well as top vineyard sites, planted wherever possible with premium Silvaner scions.
Another unprecedented opportunity arose in 2021 to acquire 0.2 hectares of vineyards in the heart of the Maustal. After two fallow years, we have now planted this vineyard with Pinot Noir vine material sourced from Burgundy.