The
winegrowers' cooperative in the municipality of Pfaffenweiler (Markgräflerland area) in the German
wine-growing region of
Baden was founded in 1950 on the initiative of the parish priest. Since 1994, Heinrich Stefan Männle has been the managing director, and Roland Braun is the cellar master. Since 2004, the winegrowers' cooperative has been operating under the name "Pfaffenweiler Weinhaus". Pfaffenweiler is one of the oldest wine-growing communities in Germany, as there is documentary evidence that wine was grown here as early as 716. At the beginning of the 14th century, vineyards in the community came into the possession of the women of the Freiburg Clara Monastery, which belonged to the Franciscan order. The first references to quality-oriented viticulture in Pfaffenweiler date back to 29 October 1692, when an approximately 40-acre vineyard was to be newly planted. In a contract with the Poor Clares convent, the tenants of the vineyard undertook to carry out precisely defined work and to plant at least 300 new vines each year. In doing so, the tenants not only had to pay attention to vines "von guetem Gewäx", but were also required to choose red wine or Muskateller.
Today, the vineyards cover a total of 112 hectares in the two Pfaffenweiler single vineyard sites Batzenberg with loess loam soils and Oberdürrenberg with reddish limestone soils. The white wine varieties Gutedel (33 ha), Sauvignon Blanc, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Riesling and Scheurebe, as well as the red wine varieties Pinot Noir (26 ha), Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are cultivated and processed there. Quality criteria include reduced yields per hectare and a very late, selective hand harvest in three passes. The wines are produced in the four lines "Sancta Clara" (absolute top plots with an exceptional microclimate), "Bannstein" (good to very good plots), "Classic Line" (from medium to good plots, bottled in 0.75 l bottles) and "Quality Wines" (bottled in 1 l bottles). Frizzante and bottle-fermented sparkling wines are also produced