Description
PJ Valckenberg was established in 1786 by Peter Joseph Valckenberg, who founded the eponymous wine trading company in Worms, Germany, in the Rheinhessen wine-growing region. In 1808, he began producing wine, establishing Weingut Liebfrauenstift, with the purchase of part of the Capuchin monastery—Stiftskirche Liebfrauenkirche—and most of the original vineyards of the famous Liebfraumilch, following secularization. PJ Valckenberg began to garner much attention and success with the export of its wines to England and Scandinavia. Early customers included the Swedish royal family, the Duke of Norfolk and Charles Dickens. By the middle of the 19th century, PJ Valckenberg’s wine trade division exported its wines to all continents, and began to solidify its role as a premium trading house and brand ambassador for German wines to the world.
Today the majority of the estate remains family-owned by seventh generation descendant, Wilhelm Steifensand, including 90% of the original vineyard site—now renamed—Liebfrauenstift-Kirchenstück. Executive partners, Peter Bohn and Tilman Queins, self-described “amplifiers of German wine,” joined the team in 2016, and moved the company offices to their new, custom-designed headquarters in Westhofen in January 2020. In addition to a curating an impressive portfolio of benchmark German wines, PJ Valckenberg remains dedicated to making authentic, traditional, single-varietal bottlings from carefully selected vineyard sites throughout Germany’s finest winemaking regions with its Valckenberg Varietals label, conceived to showcase the quality and diversity of German wines through the lens of the varietals themselves.
This bottling, from winemaker Tilman Queins, is 100% Pinot Blanc from select vineyard sites located in Rheinhessen. The grapes were carefully harvested and sorted. Gentle processing, with minimal intervention, cool fermentation with traditional white wine vinification techniques, and aging in stainless-steel tanks.
Pale bright yellow with green flecks. Floral aromatics of citrus blossom mingled with peach skin, pear and beeswax. The palate is refreshing with finely focused, bright acidity. Favors of tart green pear, Granny Smith apple, white peach and pineapple core. Fresh and fruity all the way through the racy finish.
