{"title":"Helmut Dolde","description":"\u003cp\u003eHelmut Dolde calls his bottlings \"mountain wines,\" and the description fits: his vines climb the edge of the Swabian Alb to some of the highest elevations in all of Germany.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA biology and chemistry teacher by profession, Helmut settled with his wife Hedwig in the tiny village of Linsenhofen in 1981 to raise their four children, taking up winegrowing as a hobby on a small inherited Silvaner vineyard. Self-taught across nearly forty vintages through reading, symposia and conversations with colleagues, he has quietly become one of Swabia's most admired growers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore on how they farm and work in the cellar in our \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/natural-wine-producers-primal-wine\/helmut-dolde\"\u003eHelmut Dolde producer profile\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"silvaner-weisser-helmut-dolde-white-whine-germany","title":"Helmut Dolde Silvaner Weißer 2017","description":"\u003cp\u003eHelmut Dolde's Silvaner Weißer Jura comes from some of the highest vineyards in Germany, grown above the village of Linsenhofen in the Schwäbische Alb (Swabian Jura), Württemberg. The vines sit at elevations pushing past 500 meters (1,600 feet) above sea level, on Weißer Jura soils: calcareous marl formed by corals and marine organisms deposited during the Jurassic period, the same geological layer found in Burgundy's marne blanche.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDolde is a former chemistry and biology teacher who began making wine as a hobby in 1981 and has never held organic certification by choice. He avoids copper sulfate treatments and focuses on leaving the soil in better condition than he found it, working with indigenous yeasts and low-intervention cellar methods. The Silvaner undergoes a 24-hour cold soak, then ferments in stainless steel for 3 to 4 weeks. The wine is unfined and bottled with a small addition of sulfur dioxide.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 2017 is a dry white (trocken), classified as Qualitätswein, at 12.5% ABV. Silvaner is the traditional variety of this mountain sub-region and in Dolde's hands it expresses the high-altitude cool: taut acidity, mineral salinity, and bright orchard fruit including apple, pear, and white peach, with herbal and citrus undercurrents. This is not a fat or opulent style — it is precise, linear, and refreshing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe wine is produced under the Württemberg appellation. The winery is located at Beurener Strasse 16, 72636 Frickenhausen-Linsenhofen, less than 30 miles southeast of Stuttgart, near the medieval Hohenneuffen Castle.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Helmut Dolde","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":12888277385271,"sku":"HEDOSILV17C","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0019\/3363\/9735\/files\/dolde-sylvaner.png?v=1780795773"},{"product_id":"riesling-helmut-dolde-white-wine-germany","title":"Dolde Riesling Neuffener 2018","description":"\u003cp\u003eHelmut Dolde's Neuffener Riesling comes from the village of Neuffen in Württemberg, southern Germany, in the foothills of the Schwäbische Alb (Swabian Alps). The vines grow in Weißer Jura soils — calcareous Jurassic marl formed by ancient marine deposits, the same formation known in Burgundy as marne blanche — at elevations up to 528 meters above sea level in the Schloßsteige single vineyard, one of the highest vineyard sites in Germany.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDolde describes 2018 as the best vintage he had ever produced at the time of bottling: a warm year with enough rain, no disease pressure, and a long growing season that delivered ripe fruit alongside retained freshness and slightly more body than typical. Fermentation uses indigenous yeasts in 90% stainless steel and 10% used barrels, with six months of lees aging in tank before bottling.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Neuffener Riesling is fully dry. The Weißer Jura soils give the wine a chalk-driven freshness and saline lift that distinguishes it clearly from Rieslings grown on the Brauner Jura (brown marl) plots Dolde farms around Linsenhofen and Metzingen. The result sits closer in character to a fine Chablis or an Alsatian Riesling than to the Mosel: lean, mineral, and citrus-driven, with stone fruit aromatics and genuine length.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDolde holds no organic or biodynamic certification by choice. He avoids copper sulfates — permitted under organic rules — and instead works with biodegradable soil treatments that he judges to do less harm. His 2.5 hectares in Württemberg are among the most unconventionally and thoughtfully farmed in the region.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Helmut Dolde","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":12888292556855,"sku":"HEDORIES18C","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0019\/3363\/9735\/files\/dolde-riesling-2018.png?v=1780795619"},{"product_id":"da-steppt-der-bar-helmut-dolde-natural-wine","title":"Helmut Dolde Da Steppt der Bär 2020","description":"\u003cp\u003eDa Steppt der Bär (literally: 'the bear dances there,' a German idiom for 'it will be a good party') is a pétillant naturel from Helmut and Hedwig Dolde's 2.5-hectare estate in Linsenhofen, a small village at the foot of the Swabian Jura in Württemberg. The blend is 90% Silvaner and 10% Weißburgunder (Pinot Blanc), hand-harvested from a mix of young and old vines grown above 500 meters elevation on Jurassic marl soils.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the cellar, grapes undergo spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts. Following the ancestral method, fermentation finishes in bottle, leaving hazy lees that add texture. The wine is unfined, unfiltered, and bottled with no added sulfur dioxide.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDolde's vineyards sit on two primary soil types: Weißer Jura (calcareous marne blanche, formed from ancient coral and marine deposits) and Brauner Jura (clay-rich brown marl), with small additional plots on volcanic soils around Linsenhofen and Neuffen. The high altitude and Jurassic soils drive the wine's sharp acidity and mineral character. Expect a hazy, lively pour with notes of lemon, pineapple, bread dough from lees contact, and a chalky mineral finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHelmut Dolde is not certified organic. As a former science teacher and biochemist, he rejects copper sulfate treatments used under standard organic certification, opting instead for lower-impact, more biodegradable interventions in pursuit of healthier soils long-term.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Helmut Dolde","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40484651270343,"sku":"1051","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0019\/3363\/9735\/files\/dolde-bear.png?v=1780795588"}],"url":"https:\/\/primalwine.com\/collections\/helmut-dolde.oembed","provider":"Primal Wine","version":"1.0","type":"link"}