The winery is located in the romantic town of Meersburg (Lake Constance area) above the harbour in the German wine-growing region of Baden. The historic buildings and the vineyards originate from the former property of the Prince-Bishops of Constance. In 1802/1803, the winery first became the "Grand Ducal Domain Winery" as a result of Napoleonic secularisation, then in 1919 the "State Winegrowing Domain" and finally, after the Second World War (1939-1945), the "Meersburg State Winery". It is run as a commercial enterprise of the state of Baden-Württemberg. Wine sales, the wine cellar, the estate administration and the estate pub are located in the former riding stables of the castle complex. From there you have a view over Lake Constance to the Alps. Dr Jürgen Dietrich is the estate director and Johannes Brückner is the first cellar master.
The vineyards cover 63 hectares of vines in the single vineyard sites Bengel, Chorherrenhalde, Lerchenberg, Jungfernstieg and Rieschen (Meersburg), Olgaberg (on Hohentwiel, Germany's highest vineyard at 560 metres above sea level ) and Ritterhalde (Gailingen). Most of these vineyards are Monopolemonopolised by the company. They are planted with the white wine varieties Müller-Thurgau,Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Traminer, as well as the red wine varieties Pinot Noir and Regent.
The wines are produced in three lines. These are the Gutsweine (in Bordeaux bottles), the single vineyards (in Schlegel bottles and Große Gewächse (in Wappen bottles, 3 stars on the label) from the best plots with extremely low yields. The wines mature in the vaulted cellar built in 1720-1722 under the reign of Prince-Bishop von Stauffenberg (1658-1740). Great importance is attached to the natural character of the respective terroir during the ageing process. The white wines and Pinot Blancs are fermented slowly and cool to preserve their typical fruitiness and lightness. The red wines are matured in large oak barrels or in French tonneaux. Sparkling wines (Secco), bottle-fermented sparkling wines and BrandEdebrände(marc, yeast) are also produced. The winery is a member of the BodenseeWein e. V. association.
