2016 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Gaisböhl Grand Cru Riesling
De specificaties zoals vermeld bij de wijn (o.a. wijnjaar) en in de titel zijn leidend en er kunnen geen rechten worden ontleend aan de afbeelding die wordt getoond. Lees meer in onze Frequenty asked questions
| Type of Wine | |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Region | |
| Winery | |
| Vintage | 2016 |
| Grape | |
| Content (Alc) | 0.75 ltr (13%) |
| Drink window | 2025 - 2046 |
In stock
6 items available
Description
Bürklin-Wolf owns vineyards in the most famous “Lagen” of the Mittelhaardt. The company owns vineyards in various Lagen (vineyards) in the towns of Forst, Deidesheim, Ruppertsberg and Wachenheim. For the classification of dry Riesling wines, Bürklin-Wolf uses the Burgundian model of the quality pyramid. In this model, terroir, yield and degree of ripeness of the grapes are taken into account, so Grand Cru (GC) and Premier Cru are used. Bürklin-Wolf is a member of the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter) but nevertheless does not use the term Grosses Gewächs.
The Burklin Gaisböhl GC 2016 is pure, fresh and flinty/mineral on the lemon-scented nose. Juicy, piquant and salty on the palate, this is an intense but pure, almost weightless dry Riesling with a mineral structure. The finish is intense and mineral but also juicy, with concentrated fruit flavours. A promising classic... This Riesling has a fruity nose of ripe pear and white peach, combined with seductively high-pitched bittersweetness of almond and pistachio extracts.
The Dr. Bürklin-Wolf winery is the sole owner of this 7.6 hectare estate (Monopol), of which only 5.2 ha are classified as GC locations. The origins of this location go back to the Middle Ages. Historically, the name Gaisböhl refers to a former castle located on a hill. The southern location at the foot of the Mittelhaardt benefits from the favorable microclimatic advantages. Terrace gravel deposits with clay in the soil give the Gaisböhl its fine acidity and the red sandstone makes it particularly durable and mineral.
Specifications
| Type of Wine | White |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Region | Pfalz |
| Winery | Dr. Bürklin Wolf |
| Grape | Riesling |
| Biological certified | No |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2016 |
| Drinking as of | 2025 |
| Drinking till | 2046 |
| Alcohol % | 13 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | Yes |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Parker rating | 93 |
| James Suckling rating | 95 |
| Vinous rating | 94 |
Professional Reviews
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 93
Reviewed by:
Stephan Reinhardt
The 2016 Gaisböhl G.C. opens with almond cookie and ripe stone fruit aromas on the elegant nose. Pure, saline and dense on the palate, this is a full-bodied, lush and tensioned, textural Gaisböhl with a persistent finish. Not as pure, refined or fresh as the 2022, but it's still an impressive, age-worthy grand cru. Tasted at the Nobelhart & Schmutzig restaurant in Berlin, February 2024.
Published: Oct 31, 2024
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
James Suckling
Score : 95
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Riesling Pfalz Gaisböhl GG 2016
Tuesday, Sep 11, 2018
Country : Germany
Region : Pfalz
Vintage : 2016
The most open of the 2016 GGs from here with lovely peaches and apricots and a creamy, silky texture. Long, gentle finish. Drink or hold.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Vinous
(93-94)
Drinking Window
2018 - 2030
From: Pfalz Riesling 2016: Restraint Rewarded (Jun 2018)
From cask, this delivers a fruit-dominated nose of ripe pear and white peach, allied to alluringly high-toned bittersweetness of almond and pistachio extracts. Pit and seed piquancy lend counterpoint on a lush, silken palate, where a flood of lemon and lime offers startling invigoration and sheer refreshment, while a dose of mineral salts sets the salivary glands to palpitating. Here is another instance of a Bürklin-Wolf 2016 whose long-lasting finish conveys a startling sense of energy.
- By David Schildknecht on August 2017
Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding, I was unable to taste at Bürklin-Wolf in 2015 and 2016. But in addition to my having had an August 2017 opportunity to taste through most of their cellar, export director Annette Siegrist graciously did her best to supplement that visit with samples from some remaining stocks of 2015s and 2014s. There are thus not only many wines on which to report, but I also owe readers my initial take as part of the Vinous team on this estate’s recent evolution and current methodology. My aforementioned period of absence from Bürklin-Wolf was not in fact the first to have been requested (though thankfully these represent the only such instances in my career): From vintages 1998-2005 then director Christian von Guradze deemed me unwelcome, apparently due to displeasure with stylistic criticisms I had ventured in the context of generally enthusiastic reviews. And candidly, any wine critic who has been less than enthusiastic about a collection of Bürklin-Wolf Rieslings subsequent to their memorable 1994s should probably not be taken too seriously, since every such collection that I have been able to assess has confirmed this estate’s reputation as among Germany’s most consistently outstanding performers. It was not ever thus, though. When I first visited here and became a customer in 1984, I was much more enthusiastic about the library wines I was permitted to purchase from the late 1960s and early 1970s – some of which are still performing gloriously – than I was about then-current offerings. There appeared to be sufficient talent in the cellar. Fritz Knorr had taken over in 1981 at the relatively early age of 28 due to the premature death of his father who, incredibly, already represented the third generation of Knorrs to preside over Bürklin-Wolf’s cellars, and subsequent events would vividly demonstrate the younger Knorr’s mastery of his profession. But it struck me that, like many of Germany’s huge estates of noble lineage, Bürklin-Wolf was suffering from a surfeit of bottlings, a need for vineyard renewal and difficulties in enlisting a large- and adept-enough crew of pickers, all likely compounded in the wake of proprietor and long-time director Dr. Albert Bürklin’s 1979 death.
Bürklin-Wolf’s renewal began when, in 1990, Albert Bürklin’s daughter Bettina assumed responsibility for operations (at the time, jointly with her husband Christian von Guradze). By 1994, the estate’s non-Riesling acreage had been substantially reduced; a rigorously organic vineyard regimen established (something almost unheard of in Germany at that time); strategic replanting embarked on with superior vine material; and, most conspicuously for consumers and critics, the estate’s portfolio streamlined to concentrate almost exclusively on legally dry Rieslings labeled according to a quasi-Burgundian classificatory hierarchy: Estate Riesling, village-designated bottlings, and single-vineyard wines grouped into two categories that were designated and labeled either “P.C.” or “G.C.” – acronyms that, as Annette Siegrist reminded me during my recent visit, only passed muster with the authorities thanks to a combination of stealth and luck. (With hindsight, would that the entire VDP had adopted this simple, rather obvious nomenclature!) Residually sweet Rieslings were henceforth confined to circumstances (by no means every year) in which the presence of noble botrytis or surmaturité merited selective picking of Auslese, Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese. (Bürklin-Wolf enthusiastically participated in the concurrent German red wine boom, though those results left me less impressed, and 2012 is the most recent vintage from which I have sampled any.)
Beginning in 2005, the estate converted to a biodynamic regimen, perpetuated from 2010 under the management of Alexander Strohschneider, former vineyard right hand of Peter Malberg until the latter founded his eponymous Wachau estate. Shortly before the 2012 harvest, Fritz Knorr suffered a fatal heart attack. His 27-year-old assistant, Italian Nicola Libelli – who had arrived in 2010 as an intern after getting a diploma from Geisenheim – was pressed into service and has become the new dynamic force in Bürklin-Wolf’s cellar, presiding, inter alia, over reduced recourse to cultured yeasts, diminished SO2 and a gradual lengthening of élevage for the single-vineyard wines – now overwhelmingly in cask – to a minimum of 11 months. In this connection, the “P.C.” Rieslings are now not offered for sale until roughly 17 months and the “G.C.”s 23 months after harvest. The extended stay in cask for “G.C.” wines has a potentially critical added benefit, explained Libelli. “When the new vintage of – let’s say, Gaisböhl – is being crushed, I can wait until that same morning to rack the Gaisböhl of the previous vintage from cask and then the latest Gaisböhl must goes into that same cask. So the cask is always full; it never has to have sulfur burned in it; and I attempt to spare and protect my [microbial] population.” Whole cluster pressing – introduced here in the early 1990s – remains the norm. Libelli notes that in 1995, high must weights, a relatively high percentage of malic acidity, and probably also weaker yeasts and fewer yeast nutrients due to the extended drought made for very slow fermentations during which a significant number of the top wines underwent malolactic transformation. In 2016, by contrast, the ratio of malic acid was lower, as were must weights, and the yeasts well-nourished, so fermentation – which he allowed to run slightly warmer – proceeded steadily to a point of stability at just a few grams of residual sugar, with a lower rate of alcoholic conversion, and with no malolactic transformation. “I think we have really got spontaneous fermentation down pat now,” remarked Libelli, though he hastens to add that this does not mean the yeasts responsible for fermentation come entirely from the vineyard. “Except for the reduced yields,” he opined, “2016 is an optimal year – especially because we were able to take our time at every stage of harvest as well as in the cellar.”
Given how enormous this estate still is – 210 acres, though that’s some 10% less than 20 years ago – the quality of their generic estate Riesling and village-designated Rieslings (the latter informed in part by fruit from “P.C.” and “G.C.” sites) is almost unbelievably high and reflects the clarity and animation that have become estate hallmarks. Each of these wines represents a unique blend subjected to multiple bottlings that enjoy increasing lees exposure (hence the references to A.P. numbers as part of my descriptions). And in an extension of his experimentation with lengthened élevage, a portion of the Wachenheim Riesling is being set aside by Libelli for bottling only after three winters. In keeping with Bürklin’s labeling practices, I have omitted the word trocken from descriptions of their wines, even though all but the Auslesen among them are legally dry, and have omitted the designation “Grosses Gewächs,” although Bürklin-Wolf’s “G.C.” bottlings are considered Grosse Gewächse by the VDP. (I was unfortunately unable to taste the Wachenheimer Goldbächel or Deidesheimer Langenmorgen among Bürklin-Wolf’s site-specific 2016s, and Forster Jesuitengarten is missing from that lineup because those vines were recently replanted and their fruit will for a time be channeled into the estate’s very limited village-level Forst bottling.)
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Wijnhuis
Bürklin-Wolf owns vineyards in the most renowned “Lagen” of the Mittelhaardt. The estate has plots in several Lagen (vineyards) located in Forst, Deidesheim, Ruppertsberg, and Wachenheim. For the classification of its dry Riesling wines, Bürklin-Wolf uses the Burgundian model of the quality pyramid.
This system takes terroir, yield, and grape ripeness into account, using Grand Cru (GC) and Premier Cru classifications. Bürklin-Wolf is a member of the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter) but does not use the term Grosses Gewächs.
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf: Iconic Rieslings from the Pfalz
The story of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf began in 1597 and has since been closely intertwined with the history of German winemaking. The estate is still family-owned and today ranks among the very best in Germany. With 86 hectares of vineyards, it is one of the largest privately owned wine estates in the country. Since 1992, the winery has been led by Christian von Guradze and his wife Bettina Bürklin-von Guradze, heir to the family estate. Under their guidance, the winery has undergone an impressive quality evolution, notably as one of the first German producers to fully embrace biodynamic viticulture.
While the estate was once best known for its Auslese and Trockenbeerenauslesen, the focus has shifted to top-level dry white wines, vinified almost exclusively from Riesling.
The Origins of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf
The story of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf began in 1597 and has since been deeply rooted in the history of German winemaking. The estate remains in the hands of the Bürklin family, who are now among the elite of the German wine world. Under the leadership of Bettina Bürklin-von Guradze, the winery has seen a remarkable increase in quality, including becoming one of the first German estates to transition entirely to biodynamic farming.
The winery, with 86 hectares of vineyards, is one of the largest privately owned estates in Germany and has been managed since 1992 by Christian von Guradze together with his wife, the heir to the family winery. While once known primarily for its Auslese and Trockenbeerenauslesen, the emphasis of production has shifted toward dry white wines, predominantly made from Riesling.
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf: A Biodynamic Pioneer
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf was the first German winery to fully commit to the biodynamic principles of Demeter in 2005. This approach, which centers on the harmony between people, nature, and wine, results in healthy vineyards and grapes of exceptional quality. The wines are vibrant, pure, and expressive of their origin.
The Power of Riesling and Terroir
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf focuses exclusively on Riesling, the ideal grape to showcase the unique character of the Pfalz. The vineyards are classified into ‘Grosse Lagen’ (Grand Cru) and ‘Erste Lagen’ (Premier Cru), following the Burgundian model. Renowned vineyard sites such as Pechstein, Kirchenstück, and Gaisböhl produce Rieslings that can age effortlessly for decades.
Characteristics of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Rieslings
- Dry and mineral-driven: most wines are trocken (dry), with an elegant structure.
- Complex and layered: subtle aromas of citrus, stone fruit, flowers, and wet stone.
- Aging potential: top wines develop beautifully over time in the bottle.
From the fresh, accessible entry-level Rieslings to the impressive Grosse Gewächse: every Dr. Bürklin-Wolf wine is a model of precision and purity. Whether you choose the elegant Ruppertsberger Hoheburg Erste Lage or the monumental Forster Kirchenstück G.C., you always taste the unique terroir of the Pfalz.
Buy Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Wines at Grandcruwijnen
At Grandcruwijnen, you'll find a wide selection of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf wines, imported directly from Germany. As a specialist in high-quality German Rieslings, we offer a carefully curated range, from crisp entry-level wines to complex premium bottles with excellent aging potential.
Sommelier’s Advice
Serve a dry Bürklin-Wolf Riesling with oysters, ceviche, or sushi. The more powerful GG wines pair beautifully with veal, rich fish dishes, or spicy Asian cuisine. For optimal expression, serve the wine between 8 and 10°C.
Bürklin-Wolf owns vineyards in the most famous “Lagen” of the Mittelhaardt. The company owns vineyards in various Lagen (vineyards) in the towns of Forst, Deidesheim, Ruppertsberg and Wachenheim. For the classification of dry Riesling wines, Bürklin-Wolf uses the Burgundian model of the quality pyramid. In this model, terroir, yield and degree of ripeness of the grapes are taken into account, so Grand Cru (GC) and Premier Cru are used. Bürklin-Wolf is a member of the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter) but nevertheless does not use the term Grosses Gewächs.
The Burklin Gaisböhl GC 2016 is pure, fresh and flinty/mineral on the lemon-scented nose. Juicy, piquant and salty on the palate, this is an intense but pure, almost weightless dry Riesling with a mineral structure. The finish is intense and mineral but also juicy, with concentrated fruit flavours. A promising classic... This Riesling has a fruity nose of ripe pear and white peach, combined with seductively high-pitched bittersweetness of almond and pistachio extracts.
The Dr. Bürklin-Wolf winery is the sole owner of this 7.6 hectare estate (Monopol), of which only 5.2 ha are classified as GC locations. The origins of this location go back to the Middle Ages. Historically, the name Gaisböhl refers to a former castle located on a hill. The southern location at the foot of the Mittelhaardt benefits from the favorable microclimatic advantages. Terrace gravel deposits with clay in the soil give the Gaisböhl its fine acidity and the red sandstone makes it particularly durable and mineral.
| Type of Wine | White |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Region | Pfalz |
| Winery | Dr. Bürklin Wolf |
| Grape | Riesling |
| Biological certified | No |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2016 |
| Drinking as of | 2025 |
| Drinking till | 2046 |
| Alcohol % | 13 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | Yes |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Parker rating | 93 |
| James Suckling rating | 95 |
| Vinous rating | 94 |
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 93
Reviewed by:
Stephan Reinhardt
The 2016 Gaisböhl G.C. opens with almond cookie and ripe stone fruit aromas on the elegant nose. Pure, saline and dense on the palate, this is a full-bodied, lush and tensioned, textural Gaisböhl with a persistent finish. Not as pure, refined or fresh as the 2022, but it's still an impressive, age-worthy grand cru. Tasted at the Nobelhart & Schmutzig restaurant in Berlin, February 2024.
Published: Oct 31, 2024
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
James Suckling
Score : 95
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Riesling Pfalz Gaisböhl GG 2016
Tuesday, Sep 11, 2018
Country : Germany
Region : Pfalz
Vintage : 2016
The most open of the 2016 GGs from here with lovely peaches and apricots and a creamy, silky texture. Long, gentle finish. Drink or hold.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Vinous
(93-94)
Drinking Window
2018 - 2030
From: Pfalz Riesling 2016: Restraint Rewarded (Jun 2018)
From cask, this delivers a fruit-dominated nose of ripe pear and white peach, allied to alluringly high-toned bittersweetness of almond and pistachio extracts. Pit and seed piquancy lend counterpoint on a lush, silken palate, where a flood of lemon and lime offers startling invigoration and sheer refreshment, while a dose of mineral salts sets the salivary glands to palpitating. Here is another instance of a Bürklin-Wolf 2016 whose long-lasting finish conveys a startling sense of energy.
- By David Schildknecht on August 2017
Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding, I was unable to taste at Bürklin-Wolf in 2015 and 2016. But in addition to my having had an August 2017 opportunity to taste through most of their cellar, export director Annette Siegrist graciously did her best to supplement that visit with samples from some remaining stocks of 2015s and 2014s. There are thus not only many wines on which to report, but I also owe readers my initial take as part of the Vinous team on this estate’s recent evolution and current methodology. My aforementioned period of absence from Bürklin-Wolf was not in fact the first to have been requested (though thankfully these represent the only such instances in my career): From vintages 1998-2005 then director Christian von Guradze deemed me unwelcome, apparently due to displeasure with stylistic criticisms I had ventured in the context of generally enthusiastic reviews. And candidly, any wine critic who has been less than enthusiastic about a collection of Bürklin-Wolf Rieslings subsequent to their memorable 1994s should probably not be taken too seriously, since every such collection that I have been able to assess has confirmed this estate’s reputation as among Germany’s most consistently outstanding performers. It was not ever thus, though. When I first visited here and became a customer in 1984, I was much more enthusiastic about the library wines I was permitted to purchase from the late 1960s and early 1970s – some of which are still performing gloriously – than I was about then-current offerings. There appeared to be sufficient talent in the cellar. Fritz Knorr had taken over in 1981 at the relatively early age of 28 due to the premature death of his father who, incredibly, already represented the third generation of Knorrs to preside over Bürklin-Wolf’s cellars, and subsequent events would vividly demonstrate the younger Knorr’s mastery of his profession. But it struck me that, like many of Germany’s huge estates of noble lineage, Bürklin-Wolf was suffering from a surfeit of bottlings, a need for vineyard renewal and difficulties in enlisting a large- and adept-enough crew of pickers, all likely compounded in the wake of proprietor and long-time director Dr. Albert Bürklin’s 1979 death.
Bürklin-Wolf’s renewal began when, in 1990, Albert Bürklin’s daughter Bettina assumed responsibility for operations (at the time, jointly with her husband Christian von Guradze). By 1994, the estate’s non-Riesling acreage had been substantially reduced; a rigorously organic vineyard regimen established (something almost unheard of in Germany at that time); strategic replanting embarked on with superior vine material; and, most conspicuously for consumers and critics, the estate’s portfolio streamlined to concentrate almost exclusively on legally dry Rieslings labeled according to a quasi-Burgundian classificatory hierarchy: Estate Riesling, village-designated bottlings, and single-vineyard wines grouped into two categories that were designated and labeled either “P.C.” or “G.C.” – acronyms that, as Annette Siegrist reminded me during my recent visit, only passed muster with the authorities thanks to a combination of stealth and luck. (With hindsight, would that the entire VDP had adopted this simple, rather obvious nomenclature!) Residually sweet Rieslings were henceforth confined to circumstances (by no means every year) in which the presence of noble botrytis or surmaturité merited selective picking of Auslese, Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese. (Bürklin-Wolf enthusiastically participated in the concurrent German red wine boom, though those results left me less impressed, and 2012 is the most recent vintage from which I have sampled any.)
Beginning in 2005, the estate converted to a biodynamic regimen, perpetuated from 2010 under the management of Alexander Strohschneider, former vineyard right hand of Peter Malberg until the latter founded his eponymous Wachau estate. Shortly before the 2012 harvest, Fritz Knorr suffered a fatal heart attack. His 27-year-old assistant, Italian Nicola Libelli – who had arrived in 2010 as an intern after getting a diploma from Geisenheim – was pressed into service and has become the new dynamic force in Bürklin-Wolf’s cellar, presiding, inter alia, over reduced recourse to cultured yeasts, diminished SO2 and a gradual lengthening of élevage for the single-vineyard wines – now overwhelmingly in cask – to a minimum of 11 months. In this connection, the “P.C.” Rieslings are now not offered for sale until roughly 17 months and the “G.C.”s 23 months after harvest. The extended stay in cask for “G.C.” wines has a potentially critical added benefit, explained Libelli. “When the new vintage of – let’s say, Gaisböhl – is being crushed, I can wait until that same morning to rack the Gaisböhl of the previous vintage from cask and then the latest Gaisböhl must goes into that same cask. So the cask is always full; it never has to have sulfur burned in it; and I attempt to spare and protect my [microbial] population.” Whole cluster pressing – introduced here in the early 1990s – remains the norm. Libelli notes that in 1995, high must weights, a relatively high percentage of malic acidity, and probably also weaker yeasts and fewer yeast nutrients due to the extended drought made for very slow fermentations during which a significant number of the top wines underwent malolactic transformation. In 2016, by contrast, the ratio of malic acid was lower, as were must weights, and the yeasts well-nourished, so fermentation – which he allowed to run slightly warmer – proceeded steadily to a point of stability at just a few grams of residual sugar, with a lower rate of alcoholic conversion, and with no malolactic transformation. “I think we have really got spontaneous fermentation down pat now,” remarked Libelli, though he hastens to add that this does not mean the yeasts responsible for fermentation come entirely from the vineyard. “Except for the reduced yields,” he opined, “2016 is an optimal year – especially because we were able to take our time at every stage of harvest as well as in the cellar.”
Given how enormous this estate still is – 210 acres, though that’s some 10% less than 20 years ago – the quality of their generic estate Riesling and village-designated Rieslings (the latter informed in part by fruit from “P.C.” and “G.C.” sites) is almost unbelievably high and reflects the clarity and animation that have become estate hallmarks. Each of these wines represents a unique blend subjected to multiple bottlings that enjoy increasing lees exposure (hence the references to A.P. numbers as part of my descriptions). And in an extension of his experimentation with lengthened élevage, a portion of the Wachenheim Riesling is being set aside by Libelli for bottling only after three winters. In keeping with Bürklin’s labeling practices, I have omitted the word trocken from descriptions of their wines, even though all but the Auslesen among them are legally dry, and have omitted the designation “Grosses Gewächs,” although Bürklin-Wolf’s “G.C.” bottlings are considered Grosse Gewächse by the VDP. (I was unfortunately unable to taste the Wachenheimer Goldbächel or Deidesheimer Langenmorgen among Bürklin-Wolf’s site-specific 2016s, and Forster Jesuitengarten is missing from that lineup because those vines were recently replanted and their fruit will for a time be channeled into the estate’s very limited village-level Forst bottling.)
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Exclusive Content
Sign in to unlock professional wine reviews from world-renowned critics
Bürklin-Wolf owns vineyards in the most renowned “Lagen” of the Mittelhaardt. The estate has plots in several Lagen (vineyards) located in Forst, Deidesheim, Ruppertsberg, and Wachenheim. For the classification of its dry Riesling wines, Bürklin-Wolf uses the Burgundian model of the quality pyramid.
This system takes terroir, yield, and grape ripeness into account, using Grand Cru (GC) and Premier Cru classifications. Bürklin-Wolf is a member of the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter) but does not use the term Grosses Gewächs.
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf: Iconic Rieslings from the Pfalz
The story of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf began in 1597 and has since been closely intertwined with the history of German winemaking. The estate is still family-owned and today ranks among the very best in Germany. With 86 hectares of vineyards, it is one of the largest privately owned wine estates in the country. Since 1992, the winery has been led by Christian von Guradze and his wife Bettina Bürklin-von Guradze, heir to the family estate. Under their guidance, the winery has undergone an impressive quality evolution, notably as one of the first German producers to fully embrace biodynamic viticulture.
While the estate was once best known for its Auslese and Trockenbeerenauslesen, the focus has shifted to top-level dry white wines, vinified almost exclusively from Riesling.
The Origins of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf
The story of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf began in 1597 and has since been deeply rooted in the history of German winemaking. The estate remains in the hands of the Bürklin family, who are now among the elite of the German wine world. Under the leadership of Bettina Bürklin-von Guradze, the winery has seen a remarkable increase in quality, including becoming one of the first German estates to transition entirely to biodynamic farming.
The winery, with 86 hectares of vineyards, is one of the largest privately owned estates in Germany and has been managed since 1992 by Christian von Guradze together with his wife, the heir to the family winery. While once known primarily for its Auslese and Trockenbeerenauslesen, the emphasis of production has shifted toward dry white wines, predominantly made from Riesling.
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf: A Biodynamic Pioneer
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf was the first German winery to fully commit to the biodynamic principles of Demeter in 2005. This approach, which centers on the harmony between people, nature, and wine, results in healthy vineyards and grapes of exceptional quality. The wines are vibrant, pure, and expressive of their origin.
The Power of Riesling and Terroir
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf focuses exclusively on Riesling, the ideal grape to showcase the unique character of the Pfalz. The vineyards are classified into ‘Grosse Lagen’ (Grand Cru) and ‘Erste Lagen’ (Premier Cru), following the Burgundian model. Renowned vineyard sites such as Pechstein, Kirchenstück, and Gaisböhl produce Rieslings that can age effortlessly for decades.
Characteristics of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Rieslings
- Dry and mineral-driven: most wines are trocken (dry), with an elegant structure.
- Complex and layered: subtle aromas of citrus, stone fruit, flowers, and wet stone.
- Aging potential: top wines develop beautifully over time in the bottle.
From the fresh, accessible entry-level Rieslings to the impressive Grosse Gewächse: every Dr. Bürklin-Wolf wine is a model of precision and purity. Whether you choose the elegant Ruppertsberger Hoheburg Erste Lage or the monumental Forster Kirchenstück G.C., you always taste the unique terroir of the Pfalz.
Buy Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Wines at Grandcruwijnen
At Grandcruwijnen, you'll find a wide selection of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf wines, imported directly from Germany. As a specialist in high-quality German Rieslings, we offer a carefully curated range, from crisp entry-level wines to complex premium bottles with excellent aging potential.
Sommelier’s Advice
Serve a dry Bürklin-Wolf Riesling with oysters, ceviche, or sushi. The more powerful GG wines pair beautifully with veal, rich fish dishes, or spicy Asian cuisine. For optimal expression, serve the wine between 8 and 10°C.