Wolfberger

Wolfberger, a key Alsace vineyard

The estate's history dates back to 1902, during a time of crisis in Alsace, when winegrowers decided to join forces and pool their skills to create the Eguisheim cooperative cellar. Today, Wolfberger operates both wineries.

The union of these different Alsace winegrowers enables them to pool all their harvests at a single winery, and to produce higher-quality wines from Alsace's finest terroirs. The cooperative also enables the sharing of knowledge and viticultural practices.

Over the years, and despite the two world wars, the winery became more structured and professional. From the 1970s onwards, the winery experienced a certain progression in both quality and creativity, thanks to a new generation of winemakers. These included Xavier Ehrhart, President of the company until 1994, and Pierre Hussherr, General Manager from 1970 to 2001, who were instrumental in creating the Alsace Grand Cru, Crémant d'Alsace and Vendanges Tardives appellations.

The Wolfberger brand is created to market the first Crémants d'Alsace. From then on, the company continued to develop and innovate in the design of new Alsace wines: the start of a distillation activity in the late 1970s, and the creation of a new bottling site and infrastructure dedicated to crémants in the early 1990s. In 1984, the estate's first advertising campaign was launched.

Today, Wolfberger covers more than 1,200 hectares and includes almost 450 members.

Combining man and nature

Since 1902, what was to become Wolfberger has always been among the pioneers of innovation and the reconciliation of tradition and modernity. At Wolfberger, promoting the Alsatian terroir and its vineyards, as well as environmentally-friendly practices, are top priorities to ensure product quality and sustainable operations.

Wolfberger can rightly be considered one of Alsace's leading organic wine producers. For more than 15 years, Wolfberger has been certified in Organic Agriculture, and for more than 10 years, the company has been AgriConfiance certified. In 2020, 23% of the vineyards are certified to level 3 of High Environmental Value.

Being a cooperative, environmental practices tend to be extended to every member and new member, with their vines inspected and audited every year. In addition, an individual assessment of their practices and targeted action plan is distributed to each member.

Wolfberger also stands for technological innovation, with sophisticated weather stations, extremely precise spraying techniques for natural products, autonomous straddling robots and electric weeding techniques.

Putting science at the service of organic and sustainable agriculture also means acting to preserve nature, and therefore working to preserve a plant genetic heritage.