History of the vineyard — Château Ollwiller

Ollwiller, the vineyard with a longstanding tradition, is among the jewels of Alsatian wines.

The roots of the ‘Château Ollwiller’ near Mulhouse go back as far as the 12th century – and wine has been made there for that long. Count Dagobert Waldner de Freundstein turned it into a magnificent castle in the 18th century. Well-known personalities are said to have been guests there, including King Louis XV.

In 1825, the textile entrepreneur Jacques-Gabriel Gros bought the property, giving the vineyard a special reputation. However, the castle was destroyed during the First World War, then rebuilt more modestly. The winery is considered the second oldest in France. In 2020, the Mack family acquired the castle and the traditional vineyard.

“Wine is the poetry of the earth”
Mario Soldieri (1906-1999, Italian writer)

12^th Century

The roots of the ‘Château Ollwiller’ near Mulhouse go back as far as the 12th century – and wine has been made there for that long.

18^th Century

Count Dagobert Waldner de Freundstein turned it into a magnificent castle in the 18th century. Well-known personalities are said to have been guests there, including King Louis XV.

1825

In 1825, the textile entrepreneur Jacques-Gabriel Gros bought the property and gave the vineyard a special reputation.

1915

During the First World War the castle was destroyed, then rebuilt more modestly.

2020

In 2020, the Mack family acquired the castle and the traditional vineyard.

Records of the Ollwiller vineyard date back to the Middle Ages. The vineyard is considered the second oldest in France.

The origins of the Ollwiller winery can be traced back to the 12th century.

The first known lord of Ollwiller is Burckhardt von Trubelberg, a knight who received Ollwiller as a fief from the Counts of Ferrette around the middle of the 12th century. A deed of donation from 1210 shows that the fief was then passed to the Abbey of Lieu-Croissant, only a few decades later.

Following this, in 1260, Conrad Waldner de Freundstein acquired the winery from the monks. Thanks to the well-preserved archives of the Waldner family, it is now known that the vines covered an area of between 20 and 30 hectares at the time. In the year 1711, the vineyard is already estimated to have around 441 hectares of vineyards.

In the period from 1781 to 1786, the area under vines tripled to around 1400 hectares. The Waldner family had a decisive influence on the history of the Ollwiller winery and, thanks to their commitment to quality viticulture, played a key role in its development.

In 1825, the vineyard became the property of the Gros family. The Mack family then acquired the property in 2020 and have continued to maintain the tradition of the Ollwiller vineyard.

Château Ollwiller
Allée de l’amitié franco-allemande I Ollwiller I 68500 Wuenheim I France
Email: info@chateau-ollwiller.fr

History

The château

The vineyard