Staffelter Hof is a family-run

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

and

guest house A guest house (or guesthouse, also rest house) is a kind of lodging. In some parts of the world (such as the Caribbean), a guest house is a type of inexpensive hotel-like lodging. In others, it is a private home that has been converted for the e ...

situated in the small town of

Kröv Kröv () is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. ...

. It is located in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

, Germany. It is the oldest winery in the world that is still running, and is also the sixth oldest company in the world that remains continuously operating. MKn Staffelter Hof

History

The Staffelter Hof name, originally belonging to a wine-producing abbey,Halkin, Joseph et Roland, C.-G. "Recueil des Chartes de l’Abbaye de Stavelot-Malmédy", Brüssel 1909. goes as far back as 862 A.D. and is, therefore, one of the oldest companies in the world. The first written documentation of the Staffelter Hof abbey is on an original document now located in the city archives
Archives de l’État à Liège
of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Lands belonging to the

Carolingian dynasty The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Franks, Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Pippinids, Arnulfi ...

(580–876 AD),Schannat, Johann Friedrich. "Eiflia Illustrata" – übersetzt von Bösch, Georg. ''Nachrichten über die Abteien Stavelot und Malmedy''. Verlag Jakob Anton Mayer, Aachen 1852. which spread as far as Kröv and beyond,Hansotte, Georges. "Inventaires des Archives de l’Abbaye et de la Principauté de Stavelot-Malmédy". conservé à l’archive d’état, Liège. Publiés sous la direction de Maurice Lang 1961. home of the current winery, were donated to the abbey to be used as a source of income. These properties were in possession of the abbey until the establishment of the

Napoleonic Code The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since i ...

in 1804. In 1805, the land in Kröv was purchased by Peter Schneiders for 1773 TalerWackenroder, Ernst. "12. Band IV Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Wittlich", Druckerei L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1934 and subsequently passed down 7 generations to Jan Matthias Klein, the current winemaker who took over from his father, Gerd Klein, in 2005.Hüls-Beth, Gudrun. ''Kröv: Straβen und Höfe''. Heimatkundliche Beiträge Gemeinde Kröv, 1988, pp.15–18.

Current business

Guest house

In 1960, the current guest house was established which consists of 4 double rooms and 6 apartments.Staffelter Hof Winery - Kröv, Moselle - Fine Rieslings, guest rooms, holiday apartments and distillery
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Distillery

The distillery at the property was established sometime after 1890 by Kilian Klein. Each year schnaps is produced from trester or

marc Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...

, hefe, mirabell, cherries, apples, pears and plums as well as a few homemade liqueurs.

Wine production

There are 12 hectares of vineyards belonging to Staffelter Hof. These are located in Paradies, Kirchlay, Letterlay, Steffensberg, and lastly Dhron Hofberger located in

Neumagen-Dhron is an – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a , a kind of collective municipality – in the Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a state-recognized tourism community, and it was the seat ...

, which was added to the estate from Gundi's family after her marriage to Gerd. All 10 hectares were converted to organic viticulture during 2011–2014 and the property achieved

organic certification Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products.Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic pr ...

in 2014.

Grape varieties

*White: 90% of total production **

Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...

75% of the harvest **Rivaner (formerly known as

Müller Thurgau Müller may refer to: Companies * Müller (company), a German multinational dairy company ** Müller Milk & Ingredients, a UK subsidiary of the German company * Müller (store), a German retail chain * GMD Müller, a Swiss aerial lift manufacturi ...

) 11% **

Sauvignon blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

3% (planted 2010) ** Gelber Muskateller 1% (planted 2012) *Red: 10% of total production **

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

45% **

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

30% ** Frühburgunder 15%

Wines

Staffelter Hof produces three tiers of wine, the Wappenwein – Heraldic Wines, Signatureweine – Signature Wines, Motivweine – Wolf Wines. These wines span dry to sweet, sparkling (including hand remuaged traditional method

Sekt Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne r ...

), rose, white and red.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.staffelter-hof.de/en/ German winemakers Hotels in Germany