Joy, passion and enthusiasm: these three elements are the decisive pinch of refinement that is needed when wine is lived out of tradition. This is what the VDP winery Nelles on the Ahr stands for, which also invites you to an enjoyable visit with its restaurant and hotel.Tradition obliges, they say. But new things can only come into being if one is open and allows for farsightedness. These two apparent opposites go wonderfully hand in hand at the Nelles winery. The reason is simple: because it is necessary to preserve a heritage and lead it into the future, the roots of which are documented to go back to 1479. Even today, the vineyard mentioned at that time, which marks the cornerstone of a more than 500-year history, is still part of the winery - and even counts among the best sites where great wines are still produced. "We vinify our red wines traditionally in wooden barrels. At the same time, we are perfectionists and therefore always look to see what innovations there are in the vineyard and cellar," Philip Nelles once told us about the merging of tradition and modernity. Together with his father Thomas, in whose hands the family winery has been since the early 1970s, he continues the vinophile family history. There was never an alternative for him: "I was born to be a winemaker!" Out of conviction, passion and fun with nature, he followed in the footsteps of his ancestors. "It is something very special to accompany and promote the best quality of the fruit in the vineyard every year anew," says the winemaker, who was named Germany's best young winemaker in 2015.
It is also nature that plays an essential role for the winemaking family: As a member of Fair and Green, they attach great importance to the sustainable use of the unique landscape. Located in the lower part of the Ahr, in Bad Neuenahr-Heimersheim, mainly red grape varieties ripen on the nine hectares that comprise the winery. Pinot Noir is the special (and brilliant) hobbyhorse. It loves the steep slopes of the region, which are characterised by slate, basalt and loess loam. They store heat during the day and thus offer the vines a pleasant climate. "Of course, the highest quality of the grapes is also important to us, combined with gentle vinification to preserve as much vineyard terroir as possible in the taste of the wines." Therefore, "controlled idleness" also prevails in the cellar in order to bring out the minerality, quality and elegance of the Ahr wines. The parade sites here are Landskrone and Burggarten. But in general, quality at Weingut Nelles begins exactly where the grapes grow: in the vineyard. From pruning to green harvesting, numerous measures serve to reduce yields in order to increase the quality of the grapes. Fertilising is done with manure, mowing and mulching the weeds increases the humus content and the soil life. In this way, the colonisation of beneficial insects and bees is promoted. The fully ripe grapes are harvested exclusively by hand and destemmed before processing, which leads not least to the velvety character for which Nelles wines are known.
If you then look into the cellar, one thing is certain with this clear philosophy: you will look in vain for fining agents. Time, on the other hand, is the most important companion here. The precious red wines are matured separately in wooden barrels, depending on the grape variety and location. Another special feature comes into play here: the barrique barrel numbers - B-52 and B-48 - also appear as wine names on the bottle label. And another wine boasts a special name: the Pinot Noir "1 AHR" - another flagship of the winery.