Andres & Mugler – Sparkling Wine Producers since 1989
The Andres & Mugler sparkling wine estate was born in 1989, essentially on a whim, when two friends and Palatinate winemakers, Michael Andres and Steffen Mugler, were tasting sparkling wines together and asked themselves if sparkling wine couldn't be better, more artisanal, and have more terroir. And so, the two set to work on their first barrel. Their first sparkling wine was to be made from 1000 liters of Riesling. It was to be their Palatinate sparkling wine: produced according to the traditional method, with a second fermentation in the bottle, aged for a long time on the lees, disgorged by hand, with a fine perlage and an expressive bouquet. Their debut work sold like hotcakes and received so much praise that Steffen and Michael decided to found the Andres & Mugler sparkling wine estate.
Andres & Mugler – Sparkling wine from their own grapes
Good 30 years later, the sparkling wines from the Andres & Mugler estate are among the top sparkling wines in the Palatinate. Both Michael and Steffen each own their own winery in the Palatinate, which they manage in a near-natural way, allowing them to select the grapes best suited for sparkling wine production. Their prime vineyard sites, such as the Deidesheimer Maushöhle or the Ruppertsberger Reiterpfad, have been certified organic since 2006, and biodynamic since 2010. For both of them, biodynamics is a fundamental approach to life, rooted in wakeful mindfulness. It is about caring for and paying attention to nature, to people, and to oneself.
In this way, they work in the vineyard and cellar in harmony with nature, following the rhythm of the moon phases, eschewing chemicals, and instead protecting and strengthening their vines with preparations and natural teas. Over time, they have created a balanced ecosystem within a circular economy, which allows healthy grapes to grow and forms the basis for their organic sparkling wine. A lot of manual work is required, both in the vineyard and in the cellar: during the second fermentation in the bottle, the addition of the liqueur de tirage, the riddling of the bottles, and the disgorging. But this keeps the two sparkling wine makers grounded. "Making the sparkling wine exactly how we want to: that is a feeling of freedom," notes Michael Andres. For us, too, it is a feeling of freedom to have the sparkling wines from this small estate in our assortment for you.
