Shortly after reunification Walter Schuh (he comes from a vintner family in the Mosel region) moved to Sachsen. He acquired two farmhouses and a small vineyard. Both, the buildings and vineyard were in a very sorry, dilapidated state. He restored the houses and the vineyard and started to build up the winery. It is thanks to Walter Schuh that the steep granite vineyard site Meissner Kapitelberg can now again produce wines recalling its glorious past.
Since 2016 the estate is managed by son Matthias Schuh and doughter Katharina Pollmer-Schuh. Before taking over at home Matthias Schuh did an apprenticeship at a winery in the Franken wine region and gained further experiences in New Zealand and Bordeaux.
Matthias is not prepared to accept any compromise when it comes to quality. This was noticed by the German wine critics and this year he is one of three “newcomers of the year 2018”, a title awarded by the life style magazine Falstaff.
Katharina Pollmer-Schuh was our host. We met Matthias Schuh during the tasting.
We started the visit with an extensive vineyard tour by car. Then we returned to the winery, were we sat down for a portfolio tasting in the lovely courtyard of Weingut Schuh.
Weingut Schuh - Outstanding Vinothek in Sachsen (Wines of Germany)
Radical change landed here in May 2016, when siblings Katharina Pollmer and Matthias Schuh took over the estate from their parents Walter and Martina. Katharina, as a restaurant management expert and sommelière, was named the new director of marketing and sales. Matthias, an oenologist and winemaker, agreed to handle the cellar work and was tasked with heading out into the steep vineyards of the Spaar Mountains to ensure that only the finest vines survive. It was an important but smooth transition — from the first generation to the second.
The last big year of change was back in 1990, when Germany reunited and winemaker Walter Schuh, then 35, headed from the Mosel to the Elbe to found his estate in the small town of Sörnewitz, near Meißen. He painstakingly renovated the badly weathered half-timber house (erected 1819) and winery building from 1874. Some years later, in 1997, he and his wife opened the "Zur Bosel" wine restaurant with attached pension. He acquired the neighboring Dreiseitenhof in 2008, which today — following an intense renovation — houses the vinothek, which Walter Schuh now oversees following his withdrawal from the vineyard and cellar.
By local standards, the share of red wine is extremely high, with almost a third of the five hectares in the Klausenberg (monopole) and Kapitelberg planted with red varieties. The estate's calling card is the rare Dunkelfelder, which is only grown in Sachsen at Weingut Schuh. The vineyards are cultivated exclusively using organic methods. The company is a member of the "Environmental Alliance of the Free State of Saxony" and in 2001 became the first winegrowing operation to be commended for its sustainable, environmentally friendly work by the Environmental and Agricultural Ministry.
The transition to the next generation is also moving forward apace: the Bordeaux red of the estate's colors have been brightened into a fresh purple — as a sign of the breakthrough to a new age, in which Katharina Pollmer and Matthias Schuh add their own chapters to their parents' success story.
The Wines we Tasted
We tasted 8 wines in the lovely courtyard of Weingut Schuh.
2017 Weingut Schuh DER ROSA SCHUH SECCO
2017 Weingut Schuh Goldriesling
Wines of Germany: Another Sachsen specialty is the Goldriesling, a distinct variety available almost only here and significantly lighter and milder than its better known big brother, the White Riesling.
2017 Weingut Schuh Weissburgunder Klausenberg
2017 Weingut Schuh Riesling Kapitelberg
2017 Weingut Schuh Elbling
2017 Weingut Schuh DER ROSA SCHUH (Schieler)
Wines of Germany: One special feature of the wine program is the Schieler, a rosé-tinted wine with raspberry and strawberry aromas. It can rightly be defined as a Rotling, produced from both red and white grapes. The name is protected and may only be made by Sachsen winegrowers. It is said to once have been the drink of choice for the pupils at the Sankt Afra Fürstenschule in Meißen, hence the name: "Schieler" means "student" in the Saxon dialect.
2017 Weingut Schuh Dunkelfelder
Fallstaff Wine Trophies 2018
Newcomer of the Year - Runner-up: Weingut Schuh, Coswig, Sachsen. See:Best German Winemakers: Falstaff Wine Trophies 2018
Postings: Germany-East Tour 2018 by ombiasy WineTours: Wine, Art, Culture, History - Berlin, Saale-Unstrut, Sachsen, Württemberg, Franken (Published and Forthcoming)
Germany-East Tour 2018 by ombiasy WineTours: Wine, Art, Culture, History - Berlin, Saale-Unstrut, Sachsen, Württemberg, Franken
Vineyard Tour and Tasting at the Königlicher Weinberg Klausberg Project in Sanssouci, Potsdam
Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Weingut Dr. Lindicke in Werder an der Havel, Brandenburg, with Katharina Lindicke
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Günter Born in Salzatal, Saale-Unstrut, with Elisabeth Born
Vineyard Visit and Wine Tasting Lunch at Weingut Hey in Naumburg, Saale-Unstrut, with Matthias Hey – Germany-East Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours
Wine Pairing Dinner at Restaurant Zufriedenheit in Naumburg, with Chef Robert Klaus and his excellent food and Uwe Lützkendorf, Weingut Lützkendorf, and his world-class wines
Tasting at Weingut Uwe Lützkendorf, with Uwe Lützkendorf, in Bad Kösen, Saale-Unstrut– Germany-East Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours
Schiller's Favorite Winemakers in the Saale Unstrut Region, Germany
Visit and tasting at Landesweingut Kloster Pforta in Bad Kösen, Saale-Unstrut, with Managing Director Björn Probst
Weingut Kloster Pforta: Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting with Managing Director Christian Kloss – Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Wine and Music:"Martin Luther Lunch" at the Historic Vincenz Richter Restaurant, Weingut Vincenz Richter, in Meissen with Senior Boss Gottfried Herrlich and the Music of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven – Germany-East Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard tour and Tasting at Weingut Schuh in Coswig, Sachsen, with Katharina Pollmer-Schuh and Matthias Schuh
Tour and Dinner at Weingut Schloss Proschwitz - Prinz zur Lippe in Zadel, Sachsen, with Georg Prinz zur Lippe - Germany-East Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours
Visit and Tasting at the Sächsisches Staatsweingut Schloss Wackerbarth in Radebeul, Sachsen
Wine and Opera in Dresden: Mozart at Semper Opera and the Best Wines of Sachsen at Wine Bar Weinzentrale in Dresden-Neustadt, with Owner/ Sommelier Jens Pietzonka – Germany-East Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours
Schiller's Favorite Winemakers in Sachsen (Saxony), Germany
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Aldinger in Fellbach (Stuttgart), Württemberg, with Matthias Aldinger
Vineyard Walk, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Karl Haidle in Kernen-Stetten, Württemberg, with Moritz Haidle
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Dinner at Weingut Graf Adelmann Burg Schaubeck in Steinheim-Kleinbottwar, Württemberg; with Count Adelmann
Cellar tour and Tasting at Weingut Zehnthof, Theo Luckert in Sulzfeld, Franken, with Philipp Luckert
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Staatlicher Hofkeller in Würzburg, Franken, with General Manager Marcel von den Benken– Germany-East Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours
Visit and Tasting at Weingut Am Stein Ludwig Knoll in Würzburg, Franken - Germany-East Wine and Art Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Wine Pairing Dinner at 1 Michelin Star Restaurant Reisers am Stein, Würzburg, Franken
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Rudolf Fürst in Bürgstadt, Franken, with Sebastian Fürst
Tasting and Tour with the Pinot Noir Legend Paul Fürst, Weingut Rudolf Fürst in Bürgstadt, Franken– Germany-East Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Visit and Tasting at Weingut Benedikt Baltes in Klingenberg, Franken, with Benedikt Baltes: The Wines of Weingut Benedikt Baltes and of Weingut Julia Bertram
Schiller’s Favorites: 2 Legendary Wine Taverns in Würzburg – Juliusspital and Bürgerspital
Schiller’s Favorite Wine Taverns in Würzburg