Winemaker: Niklas himself!
Where: Eckelsheim, Rheinhessen, Germany
Size: 12,5 ha Main
Varieties: Riesling, Weissburgunder, Rülander, Chardonnay and Silvaner & Spätburgunder
Certifications: Organically Certified with EU Bio (from 2025 vintage)
Quick note: Low-intervention winemaking, Volcanic (porphyric) soils, some clay-marl and lighter sandy soils with marine sediments
Based out of Eckelsheim in Rheinhessen, Germany, Niklas is a 4th generation winemaker. Straight out of school he headed to do the traditional German winemaking apprenticeship. Then afterwards he completed studies at Geisenheim, and interned at Wagner Stempel in Rheinhessen, Pranzegg in Alto Adige and Ziereisen in Baden/Markgräflerland, before returning to start his own low-intervention focused wine production in 2021 with just 1 hectares of vineyards, before taking over the 14 hectares family winery, now certified organic since 2025!
The Rückrich vineyards lie more to the west of Rheinhessen, and borders the Nahe, this means an overall cooler climate yet still quite dry, so typically they see later harvests, even within Rheinhessen it can be 1-1,5 weeks later than the rest of Germany. A lot of Niklas’ vineyards are also north-facing, which can help mitigate the changing temperatures of the future! Niklas is mainly farming local grape varieties like Riesling, Weissburgunder, Rülander, Chardonnay and Silvaner, on land where volcanic/porphyric soils lend themselves to producing wines of beautiful salinity with an herbaceous character. The soils were formed around 280 million years ago, while the area was later also influenced by the ancient sea around 43 million years ago. So there is quite a mix of volcanic rock, some parcels with clay marl and sediments of the primeval sea to be found in the vineyards.
Vinification is with hand harvested grapes and spontaneous fermentation in stainless and oak – mainly French barrels, particularly barriques and tonneaux (around 280-500 L). In his early winemaking days Niklas was experimenting with maceration and low sulphur, as he learns his vineyards and indeed his own personal style, we find he walks the line between low-intervention/natural wine and what we expect fine wine to be. Normally his wines are bottled after a minimum of 11 months on the lees, no filtration and low or no adds of sulphur, some cuvees however can age 24 months or more in barrel on full lees.
Overall, Niklas’s wines have an excellent depth of character to them. Over the last few years, he has begun naming his entry white and red cuvées, Shiro and Akai respectively, the Japanese names for the two colours, after a very influential visit to Japan in 2024. His other cuvées are named currently for the grape varieties within them.
Niklas is also investigating the use of Key Keg’s, and has already kegged a few wines under his keg label ‘Lupus’. These have generally a little more sulphur to ensure stability in keg lines, and are from fruit that can also be machine harvested. We have had great success working already with his kegs, and overall love to see Niklas’ daring and thoughtful, modern vinification with an intent on lowering CO2 emissions and using alternative formats.
