Tessa Maria Sprenger

History of Domaine Tessa Maria Sprenger

Tessa Maria Sprenger's adventure begins in the hills near Heidelberg, where she grew up, on the lieu-dit of Käsebrod — literally "cheese bread." Before striking out on her own, she built solid experience with the very best: she trained at Weingut Keller, one of the most renowned estates in Germany, from which she took away its rigour, spirit and humility, then spent a vintage at Domaine Les Horées in Burgundy.

From these travels, Tessa returns time and again to the plots of her village, near the restaurant where her partner Christian works as chef. Recognising in these soils echoes of her experiences, she decides to apply the methods of her mentors there and produces her first solo vintage in 2023 — a rainy season during which she shuttles back and forth between Burgundy and Baden. Her very first wines, produced in tiny quantities, prove to be radiant, pure and precise, the fruit of meticulous grape sorting.

Terroirs and Vines of Domaine Tessa Maria Sprenger

The vineyard is located in the Kraichgau, the northern part of the Baden region, long known as a simple supplier of grapes rather than for its great wines. Tessa farms several plots of old vines there, ranging from forty to seventy-five years old, on soils of clay mixed with sandstone and keuper subsoils (middle keuper). The lieu-dit Käsebrod, in Dielheim, rests on limestone and sandstone soils that are home to auxerrois and pinot blanc, planted side by side.

The home plot, named Haidegrün (a reference to a sense of closeness with nature) and located in Rauenberg, is home to the estate's oldest vine — a müller-thurgau of more than seventy years old growing on deep red clay, which went two years without being harvested before Tessa took it over. Viticulture is entirely organic and manual, with no tractor or chemical products, using cover crops, pruning according to the Simonit & Sirch method and no hedging, resulting in deliberately low yields of three to seven tonnes per hectare.

Winemaking at Domaine Tessa Maria Sprenger

Winemaking takes place in a small garage, in a minimalist and precise approach inspired by both German classicism and the natural wine ethos — much like the wines of Ganevat in the Jura, which Tessa admires. The grapes are pressed directly or after a few hours of skin contact, with no sulphur added during élaboration, then aged in neutral 225- or 500-litre barrels.

Ageing lasts approximately ten months in the same barrel, with a single racking and no lees-stirring, malolactic fermentation being permitted when it occurs naturally. Only a minimal dose of sulphur (around 20 to 30 milligrams per litre) is added at bottling. The result is wines that are unfiltered yet clean, fresh, mineral and of great length, faithful to the winemaker's philosophy.

The cuvées of Domaine Tessa Maria Sprenger

Haidegrün Müller-Thurgau is the cuvée from the home plot in Rauenberg, on deep red clay, from vines of more than seventy years old — among the oldest in the estate. The grapes spend approximately one day in skin contact before manual pressing, after which the wine is aged in neutral barrels. Lively, saline and textured, it offers a modern and energetic reading of this historic German variety, in a very limited production.

Käsebrod Auxerrois comes from the lieu-dit Käsebrod in Dielheim, on limestone and sandstone soils, from vines of sixty years and older. Pressed directly and aged for around ten months in 225-litre barrels with no added sulphur, it is the estate's rarest cuvée, produced in just a few hundred bottles. It captivates with its finesse, mineral tension and purity of fruit.

Käsebrod Weisser Burgunder, the estate's pinot blanc, also comes from the Käsebrod plots on limestone and sandstone, with vines of approximately forty to seventy years old. Pressed directly into 500-litre barrels and aged ten months in the same vessel, it displays a fresh and precise palate — both broad and taut — in the clear, pleasurable style sought by the winemaker.

Freuden Spätburgunder is the estate's red cuvée, crafted from pinot noir (spätburgunder) planted on the sector's deep red clays. Even more limited in production and only recently added to the range, it extends Tessa Maria Sprenger's Burgundian sensibility with a delicate, fresh and finely fruited red, following the same philosophy of gentle winemaking, ageing in neutral barrels and minimal sulphur.