The winery "Don Angel Weine" was founded by the German Engelbert Schmid; the name is derived from the form of address "Don Ángel" for the owner, which is common in Spain. He was a solo horn player in top German orchestras and the world's leading producer of French horns. In 2008, an amphitheatre built in the ancient Greek style was added to the french horn production facility in Mindelzell in the southern German region of Bavarian Swabia. As a passionate wine connoisseur, Schmid has always had the dream of producing his own wine. He has overall responsibility for oenology and production, from vineyard care to bottling. His wife Karina Schmid (Doña Karina) is responsible for organisation and marketing. Daughter Susanne Schmid is also working in the family business after successfully completing her oenology studies in 2021 and is building up the new business with her father. Production began in 2003 on the Canary Islands, on the island of La Palma. This small winery has been sold in the meantime.
Since the 2010 vintage, the grapes have come from leased land on the Castilian plateau in the Castile-Léon region of northern Spain. In 2019, 25 hectares of former cereal land were purchased in the Ribera del Duero region, which are now being planted with vines step by step. The red wine varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Henri Bouschet), Monastrell and Merlot, as well as the white wine varieties Albillo Real, Verdejo, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling are cultivated and processed.
Only minimal pesticides are used in the care of the vines. This is done exclusively with sulphur preparations, which is possible due to the consistently dry summers. As a rule, a single sulphur treatment in mid-May before flowering is sufficient, after which no further treatment takes place until harvest. This means that no sulphur residues can be found on the grape skin. Only healthy and fully ripe grapes from rigorous hand-selection in the vineyard are used in production. The grapes are gently de-stemmed and lightly crushed, the mash (in the case of white and rosé the freshly pressed juice) is immediately filled into small tanks, cooled to 0 °Celsius and shipped to Germany as quickly as possible just a few hours after harvesting to be processed there.
The fermentation and ageing of the wines takes place exclusively in Germany in the company's own winery in Mindelzell in the middle of southern Germany in Bavarian Swabia. The vinification is carried out with the help of the most modern laboratory and cellar technology. The red wines are vinified in a typical and fruity manner. After alcoholic fermentation, the red wines are matured separately by grape variety for 12 months in barrique barrels made of French Allier oak. In order to give the wines only a delicate wood note, only a maximum of one third of new barrels are used. The red wines are produced in three lines. These are "Don Angelo Tintórico" (main wine, grape variety mix can vary), "Don Angel Angelayo" (from the very best barrels only in the best vintages) and "Don Angel Bodegano" (house wine). The rosé wines "Don Angel Rosado", "Don Ángel Rosado Doña", and the sparkling wine "Angel Secco" as well as the white wines "Don Angel Blanco" and "Don Angel Blanco Doña" are also produced.
