Cooperation pays off
The Saale-Unstrut region would be unthinkable without its rivers and wine. This is the result of the passion of 500 wine growers of the Freyburg-Unstrut wine growers’ association founded 78 years ago. The members, from an area between Höhnstedt, Freyburg and Jena, take their job seriously, whether they work on large estates or just with a few vines at the back of the house. The wine all comes from around 360 hectares of vineyards. This makes the wine growers’ association, the largest wine producer in the new German Länder, committed stewards of the countryside. The members work in harmony with nature, respecting the river banks. In return they get mineral-rich, heat-retaining soils that provide the vines with a nutrient-rich living – perfect conditions for highly expressive wines. In the cellar the latest technology effortlessly combines with tradition going back more than a thousand years. The huge wooden barrel works as well as ever, though it is now supported by computer-controlled fermentation tanks. The winegrowers’ union has already inherited one of Germany’s largest and most beautiful wooden barrel cellars from its founders and the stock is continuously extended today. Winemaker Hans-Albrecht Zieger sets the same high standards for work in the vineyards and the cellar, producing high level, exciting and multifaceted wines. Numerous annual awards and steady increase in demand underscore their quality and popularity with the customers.
