Weingut Bruker

History of the Bruker Winery

The Bruker family runs a winery with an attached hotel and restaurant in Großbottwar in Swabia. A family business for four generations, today Markus Bruker takes care of the winery. The history goes back to 1930, when great-grandfather Otto Bruker started viticulture as a sideline. In contrast to many other colleagues, he decided in 1953 not to join an association and marketed his wines himself. It was not until the 80s, however, that viticulture became the exclusive branch of the business, and the farm was transformed. Until then, the farm had been a small wine tavern, but now it was expanded into a large restaurant and hotel. Investments were made in cellar technology, for example, the barrique barrel was introduced to the estate in order to open up new branches of viticulture. In 2005, Markus and Tanja finally took over the day-to-day business.

The terroir of the Bruker Winery

The vineyards of the winery are scattered around Großbottwar, however, two soil types crystallize, according to which one can divide them:

• red gypsum keuper on the Großbottwar Lichtenberg, Harzberg and Oberstenfelder Forstberg hills
• the Hessigheimer Felsengärten, Mundelsheimer Käsberg, Rozenberg on limestone in a valley basin

In the case of the latter vineyards, the surrounding elevations protect against strong winds and act as a heat collector in summer, trapping the sun.

Typical for the Weingut Bruker is the careful handling in the vineyard and cellar. The grapes are only picked by hand and then left for some time to develop additional aromas. The pumping distances are kept short, high pressure is also avoided when transporting the must. The cellar is always well cooled so that the fermentation temperature does not get too high and thus the fermentation takes place slowly and thoroughly. For example, after fermentation, a resting time on the lees of 5 months is always applied. Red wines are always aged in wooden barrels to obtain a smooth aroma and fine tannins.

The wines of Bruker

The wines of Bruker are available in the following lines:

• Estate wines: the down-to-earth introduction
• Ortsweine: varietal wines with typical local character
• Site wines: Wines from individual vineyards with good aging potential
• Cuvée: the cellar master's "playground" for interesting creations
• Reserve: selected wines with a long ageing period

Bruker wines stand for modern individuality. In this sense, Markus Bruker is also an advocate of organic farming. He swears by this out of conviction and not on a whim, because it is fashionable at the moment and everyone is doing it.