Location and Classification
Seehalde is a named vineyard site in Nonnenhorn on the Bavarian shore of Lake Constance. It is situated in a former riverside zone directly by the lake. In terms of wine law, it is registered as a single vineyard site in the area of Bayerischer Bodensee, within the Großlage Seegarten, within the specified cultivation area Württemberg.
Climate and Soils
The site belongs to a wine-growing region shaped by cool conditions and is influenced directly by Lake Constance. The mild conditions support a slow ripening of the grapes. The subsoil has a very high proportion of gravel and stones, carbonate sands, as well as documented deposits of freshwater mussels. The other soils in Nonnenhorn consist of mixtures shaped by the Ice Age of sand, gravel and loam.
Grape Varieties and Wine Styles
Chardonnay, Spätburgunder and Weißburgunder are documented for Seehalde. The wines on record include dry Chardonnay and dry Spätburgunder. A Seehalde-Chardonnay is described as mineral, precise and structured, and a Seehalde-Spätburgunder as fresh, concentrated and with tannin emphasis.
Vinification and Maturation
For a documented Seehalde-Chardonnay, the grapes are pressed whole-berry, fermented spontaneously, and matured on full lees for 16 to 18 months in a 600-litre vessel as well as in barriques. Bottling is carried out unfiltered. For the documented Seehalde-Spätburgunder, fermentation includes a high proportion of whole grapes; afterwards, the wine matures for 18 months exclusively in new French barriques and is bottled unfiltered.
Historical Designation
An archived wine label from 1986 bears the designation “Nonnenhorner Seehalde Müller-Thurgau Qualitätswein”.
