Family
The secret to our sekts: ultra-extended lees contact in the bottle that helps them reach their full potential.
1984 was the year when we began dreaming big. Ours has been the path of both innovation and tradition, producing top-quality sparkling wine via the time-honored method of bottle fermentation. For many in Germany, this choice remains inconceivable. Today we as a family cultivate 10 hectares under vine—organically, of course. Our greatest passion lies in the classic Pinot varieties such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Meunier. Our sites in Rheinhessen and the Pfalz allow us to produce base wines of notable minerality, depth, and complexity. The grapes that we harvest by hand are gently processed, with only the finest portion of the pressing—the cuvée—used for our sekt.
The decision to concentrate exclusively on quality sparkling wine has helped raise the larger profile of German sekt on the international market. We joined the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter) in 2020, the first exclusively sparkling wine producer to do so, further enhancing the prestige of German sekt on the global stage.
Volker Raumland
The Sekt PioneerI grew up in a farming family. After school I sprinted off into the vineyards or went harvesting potatoes with my grandpa. My parents perpetually pushed me to learn something “prudent,” and so I went to school to get proper training as a commercial clerk. Those years of apprenticeship were helpful, but anemic. I decided to change paths by studying wine in Geisenheim. As part of my studies, I was once assigned the task of producing a sparkling wine. I took Müller-Thurgau from my parents’ cellar and turned it into sekt. Sure enough, at a blind tasting months later, the sole winner was chosen—my Müller-Thurgau from Bockenheim. Then and there, it became clear to me that sekt would be both my profession and my calling. Today, I couldn’t be happier with that decision.
Katharina Raumland
The world of sparkling wine has always fascinated me. Yet my other interests also initially drew me out into the ‘wide, wide world.’ It was what I needed to eventually make a decision that I could stand behind in full. After studying business administration, spending some time abroad, and gaining an initial bit of working experience at small and large companies in Germany and abroad, I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps and study in Geisenheim. During that time, I gathered experience and inspiration in South Africa at Villion Family Wines, in England at Gusbourne, and in France at Champagne Lacourte-Godbillon. After these many interim stops, I’ve finally arrived home. Every second, every ounce of my passion, goes into our vineyards, our base wines, and the enhancement of our base wine into sekt.
Marie-Luise Raumland
I’ve always bubbled with ideas, energy, and creativity. I’ve quietly known ever since completing school that I someday wanted to dedicate my life to sekt. Yet my sense of curiosity drove me to see the world. During my bachelor’s study in business administration, I visited Spain, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, and Argentina. I always felt an inner joy when sharing the wonders of sekt with other people. And so I founded a wine initiative at the university and ultimately began my studies in viticulture in Montpellier, France. I am so grateful that renowned estates such as Weingut Dr. Wehrheim, Weingut Rings, and Gusbourne Estates opened their doors to me as an apprentice. After 5 more years in the food and spirits industry, it was finally clear: I am a sekt producer through and through.
Philosophy
In love with Sekt
Our love and respect for other outstanding international sparkling wines inspires us to produce the finest German sekt possible. Our passion for sekt is reflected in everything we do. It’s what drives us—and what we hope to awaken in others. Our love for sekt is meant to be shared.
Uncompromising
Finesse, patience, and uncompromising care go into every bottle of our sekt. The foundation for this is laid in the vineyard: organic methods, cultivation techniques adopted for each specific site, and a gentle hand harvest. We vinify our own base wines. Each sekt spends at least three years on the lees, giving it the time it needs to develop.
Visionary
Back in the 1980s, it was a daring move to found a winery based exclusively on sekt production using traditional bottle fermentation. Many of the same challenges remain, joined by new ones that encourage us to constantly review our existing practices and processes and never to rest on our laurels. Each year we try to start fresh at the task of drawing the best from of our terroir and producing the finest sekts that nature can provide.
Common Ground
The bonds of family are the foundation for how we conduct business, internally and externally. We’re proud of the sense of solidarity and common ground shared between our family and the estate’s employees. We want that feeling to radiate outward as well, to our friends, customers, and partners. We live for sekt and are an unbeatable sekt trio.
Sekthaus Raumland stands at the peak of the wine world, a point of agreement between us and the trade press. Volker Raumland raised German sekt to a new level. His pioneering work has inspired many German producers to follow his lead.
Feinschmecker Magazin
November 2020
History
1955
Birth of Volker Raumland into a family of farmers in Bockenheim/Pfalz. Throughout his childhood, his favorite spot is the vineyards.
1980
After training as a commercial clerk at Siemens, Volker decides to attend university for viticulture and oenology at the University of Geisenheim. He creates his first sekt—a Müller-Thurgau from his parents’ winery—as part of an academic assignment. His love for sekt is kindled.
1984
The first Raumland sekt is created. It marked the start of Volker Raumland’s devotion to sekt. At his parents’ winery, he begins making small batches of sekt using traditional bottle fermentation, working every day on optimizing his production methods.
1986
Volker travels to Weingut Wöhrwag in Stuttgart for a professional visit, where he also meets Heide-Rose Wöhrwag—his future wife. The pair decides in 1990 to purchase Villa Merkel in Flörsheim-Dalsheim, setting an important cornerstone for their future maison de sekt. Together with the villa they purchase 4 hectares of vineyards in Flörsheim-Dalsheim.
1991
The years that follow are shaped by hard work, much travel, and the constant effort to produce the best possible sparkling wine. He starts his sekt production career essentially as a contract winemaker. Just as traveling knife grinders once roamed the land sharpening dull utensils, Raumland spends the 80s traveling with portable sekt production equipment, turning base wines from German, Austrian, and even French winegrowers into sparkling wine.
1997
Frenchwoman Carole Lefèvre travels to our sekt house for a 3-month internship. She ultimately stays 7 years. Together we further improve the style of our sekts, including differentiated whole cluster pressing; reduction of the first gently pressed batch of harvested grapes (the so-called ‘Tête du Cuvée’) to 50 percent; and in 2001 the creation of our first classic blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Meunier—our Triumvirat.
2005
Wine guide Gault Millau crowns us the finest German sekt for the first—but not the last—time. A thrilling journey continues.
2015
The current vinotheque is built. Before its construction, all customer visits and tastings were held in the villa across the street.
2019
The second generation of the family, in the form of Marie-Luise and Katharina, join the sekt house team. There is consensus across the generations on the need for a stronger focus on sustainability, vineyard work, and traditional methods in our sekt cellar.
2020
A memorable year on many fronts. We become the first sekt-only producer in the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP). Together with other fantastic winegrowing colleagues and the VDP, the VDP.Sekt.Statute is developed to further promote the production of German sekt through traditional bottle fermentation.
Maison de Sekt
A Villa in the Wilhelminian style
The villa—now our sekt house—was once a property for the upper class, namely the factory-owning Merkel family, whose furniture store in Flörsheim-Dalsheim delivered throughout Europe. Shortly before it was to be sold at auction, we had the good fortune of acquiring the estate together with its 4 hectares of vineyards. After many years of renovation, the villa was initially used for events and sekt tastings. Since the opening of the vinotheque in 2015, the villa has overwhelmingly been used solely for private affairs.
