German organic winegrower Eva Vollmer has brought wines made from Piwi grape varieties to international attention with the "Zukunftsweine" association. In this interview, she talks about top wines, serious cuvées and blind flights with an aha effect.
When did you first encounter the topic of Piwi grape varieties, and why did you become involved with it?
Eva Vollmer: There are two aspects to me: There is the absolutely negative introduction to the Piwi world and later the positive enlightenment. I completed an apprenticeship as a winemaker, specialising in the cellar, and was trained in sensory analysis. We sniffed and categorised grape varieties, but Piwis were not an issue around 2001. Zero. I came across Regent later. But not as a valuable, useful and necessary plant in this wine world. I started studying viticulture in 2003. When I think about whether Piwis became a topic during a lecture, I have to say: no. The important part of the course begins in the students' shared flats and living rooms, but Piwi wines were never brought to the aftershows. If someone had come with a bottle of Regent, they would have been beaten out with Riesling. It just wasn't sexy.
And the positive experience?
Eva Vollmer: The big "aha" moment for me came from the shock that we had applied far too much pesticide over the years to our vineyard, which supplied the cooperative. In 2007, we re-founded the winery as an organic business; I hadn't thought about it before. But when we made conscious purchases and counted the tractor hours, we realised how much time and material it takes - and how brutally the weather dictates that we work with plant protection. It's always a matter of finding the right moment to get ahead of these organisms and fungi. And that's where I noticed the new generations of Piwi with their superpower.
Did they convince you straight away?
Eva Vollmer: The fact that the resistances have improved was initially only on paper for me. My winemaking colleagues also told me that a lot had happened over the years in terms of sensory properties. That's why I bought and tasted a lot of wines "learning by drinking". And that was so difficult! But around 2014, I asked myself: which variety could be suitable for us? That was Souvignier Gris. But I left the tasting of these wines with a lot of question marks. This was because the wines represented completely different styles and ideas of the winemakers. When tasting, there were wines that nobody needs. Right down to: "Hey, that's a solid basis." The wines were not the best I had ever tasted. But my inspiration told me that I could produce wines like this with my signature style - and that I would have a lot of fun with this variety. And so I started 2016 in a half-blind flight.
You continue to grow traditional varieties: Riesling, Scheurebe, Burgundy varieties. Isn't that a contradiction for you?
Eva Vollmer: No, not at all. Coexistence is due to sustainability. The vine is a long-term crop. Burgundy and Riesling are the top dogs, which I admire and idolise. But in the upheaval of a vine's life, I no longer replant the old models - even though I love them so much. I will plant Souvignier Gris in my sacred Riesling vineyard Gau-Bischofsheimer Herrnberg when the vineyard is ready in ten years' time. But does an everyday wine really have to be Riesling? Or should we reserve Riesling for the terroir lines?
Such changes are extremely slow in the wine industry.
Eva Vollmer: When I started in viticulture, Rheinhessen had to learn something new in just a decade: How do we make high-quality wine that lasts for years? How do I depict terroir? The Scheurebe spread in the 1970s, I was born in the 1980s. So we're talking about a pace that only one generation has experienced. And we're also talking about the rapid pace of climate change.
I firmly believe in producing serious cuvées
How did you find your bearings? There are no great Piwi wines as role models.
Eva Vollmer: I set out on my own. I produced the wines the way it felt right for me. I simply applied my knowledge of Burgundy to Souvignier Gris. And turned it into a perfect wine. Is it a new world? Yes and no. The variety has a harder skin, different tannin structures and a few new tweaks. But we have one hundred per cent healthy fruit. And I don't have to watch the Pinot Gris go off the vine like I did in 2023.
Is it really that simple?
Eva Vollmer: We still have grapes. We still have yeasts that produce alcohol. So we are not reinventing viticulture. And there are sensory analogies: Souvignier Gris can express a Pinot Gris style, but it brings such a kick to the palate! Many a soft-knocked Pinot Gris can take a leaf out of its book. It would therefore be great if you could pimp up Pinot Gris with a blend of Souvignier Gris. I firmly believe in producing serious cuvées. Here in Germany. So, dear winegrowers, don't just produce summer wine or secco from Piwis, but serious top cuvées!
Many winegrowers say: We already have too many grape varieties in Germany. What is your answer?
Eva Vollmer: In our winery, Bacchus has been written off. Although it is part of my soul: I won't have any more Scheurebe in the long term either. For me, planting Piwis doesn't mean more varieties, but rather a clean-up. Breeding is fizzing and boiling, the cuvée world is opening up new opportunities. But only the very best grapevine models will be profiled.
What are they for you?
Eva Vollmer: (ponders for a long time) Okay: Souvignier Gris, Calardis Blanc and Sauvignac. And I would also mention the red Cabertin.
None other?
Eva Vollmer: I have a few hot favourites, but I still lack experience with them.
Do Piwis first have to come to the supermarket as consumer wines?
EvaVollmer: We should definitely focus on consumer wines. But please, dear winegrowers, play at the very top! The vines are often ready very early. Our Souvignier Gris was ready for top sparkling wine and ageing in wood after just three years. It is uncomplicated on the one hand, but can accompany dishes up to top level.
No winemaker is currently planting Piwis in top vineyards.
Eva Vollmer: That's why there is the technique of vine replanting. This is currently often practised in Baden. I am in contact with the Piwi Collective, which explains to winegrowers after work: "We know that you can't manage the change of grape variety financially. You have vines that are still too young to pull out. So do some grafting! In two years you'll have new vines with old roots! It won't work every year because the weather has to be right. But it's also not ideal to plant a young field every year.
So far you have 66 wineries as members. What is needed for "wines of the future" to become relevant in wine community?
Eva Vollmer: There is the winegrower, who has to plant. There is the retailer, who has to list, and there is the customer, who has to drink and understand. That's why we rotate so much, because we work in all three cycles. I'm so happy that the topic is exploding in the industry, and I don't feel completely uninvolved in that. However, I don't feel like an inventor, but rather like the person who has been working on the ground that has been prepared for years. But I've lacked the grip so far. It only comes from spreading the word, recommending and communicating. It is not enough to think only from within our winegrowing bubble. That's why the team includes a brand agency, a sales professional, a new work expert and a business management professional.
Aren't you worried that "wines of the future" could become a niche, like so many in wine community? It is already fragmented into top wineries, cellars, co-operatives, family wineries, organic and natural wine producers...
And then there are the growing regions. We have a colourful, charming patchwork. That's exactly what characterises German wine. Everywhere you go: a new aha effect.
Is that an opportunity or a risk?
Eva Vollmer: I see a great opportunity. It's not fragmentation, I call it diversity. A basic principle of "Zukunftsweine" is benevolent coexistence. It's about respect and the openness to use parts of our concept to improve ourselves. But also to pass on new things. We have to help each other to find the good ways. And also allow someone to break out.
Eva Vollmer, born in 1982, started her organic winery in Mainz-Ebersheim (Rheinhessen) on her parents' farm in 2007. Her family had farmed and produced wine for the co-operative. After training as a wine cooper and studying oenology in Geisenheim, Vollmer completed a doctorate in viticulture. In 2021, she founded the "Future Wines" initiative with Rhine-Hessian winegrower Hanneke Schönhals to promote the cultivation of Piwi grape varieties and the marketing of the wines. It now includes 66 wineries from Germany, Austria and Luxembourg.