20213041_WGDE2021_ENGL

Grosse Gewächse, predominantly of Riesling,
Grau- and Weissburgunder, thrive in the
historic Freyburger Edelacker site
ON THE 51 ST DEGREE
OF LATITUDE
In the past, the limit for professional viticulture was drawn along the 50th degree
of latitude. Today, however, the 51st degree of latitude “Breitengrad 51” has
turned into a slogan for top quality in Germany’s east – with good reason.
WORDS MATTHIAS NESKE
Germany’s top-selling online wine
retailer lists 1,200 German wines.
Six of them hail from Sachsen, or
Saxony, and there are precisely zero from
Saale-Unstrut. Clearly this is a case for
Sandro Sperk. He is not only winemaker
at his wife Marika’s estate - Weingut
Böhme & Töchter. No, since last summer
the wine business graduate has also been
responsible for the sales and marketing of
“Breitengrad 51”, a group of nine
Saale-Unstrut estates – with all the top
ones among them. Since Sperk has taken
the reins, the group has come up with a
website, a new logo and an ambitious
plan, modelled on Austria’s Steiermark, to
come up with a new quality pyramid of
vineyards. “So far we have only awarded
the Breitengrad-51 seal to the wines that
did best in a blind tasting,” Sperk explains.
“Since every estate is only allowed to have
one red and one white wine with the seal,
we got to about 10,000 bottles per annum.
Once our pyramid is fully developed, we
may get to 700,000 or 800,000 bottles per
annum across the different categories.”
There is no question that this will change
Saale-Unstrut’s perception in the market.
The federal-state-owned Landesweingut
Kloster Pforta, the region’s largest estate,
is also a member. With managing director
Bastian Remkes and cellar master Olaf
Stintzing, two new faces with a strong
strategic outlook, joined Kloster Pforta in
586 falstaff Wine Guide Germany 2021