The tradition-rich Hammelburg winery has been run by us, Family Lange, since 2011.
We would like to introduce ourselves:
Thomas Lange – winemaker has claimed responsibility of the wine cellar and the vineyards.
Ulrike Lange – winemaker. Studied Viticulture Enology and received Dipl.-Ing in Geisenheim. Responsible for marketing and management.
Lukas Lange – our oldest, he is a carpenter and a Event technician.
Moritz Lange – our youngest, is carpenter.
junior 2012 -
“Where love falls… there it should thrive,” said Ulrike and Thomas Lange, who own the organic winery Schloss Saaleck, one of the largest wineries in the region. They found each other in 1993, for both “the love of a lifetime.” They already thwarted a few plans when they shaped their future according to their own tastes.
Ulrike was actually supposed to take over her parents’ winery. But that’s how it is with love: it doesn’t adhere to parental plans. Dipl.-Ing. in Viticulture and Oenology Ulrike and wholesale and retail merchant Thomas married and started a family with Lukas and Moritz. Both worked in their respective professions but did not find them fulfilling. “There has to be more!” Thomas said to himself at almost 40 years old and followed his Uli into the world of viticulture.
The city of Hammelburg sold the municipal winery at Saaleck Castle above the city to the Lange family in 2011. Its roots go back to 777 with Charlemagne. The first Silvaner planting took place in 1659. By that time, wine had been pressed at Saaleck Castle for nearly 1000 years. From 2011, Ulrike and Thomas worked on their newly acquired, traditional winery as origin producers—winemakers who handle all production steps from vine to bottle. From 2012 to 2014, Thomas completed training as a winemaker. Later, he added “state-certified distiller” to his qualifications. Since then, self-distilled grappas, fruit brandies, and liqueurs have also been available at the organic winery. In the vinotheque in the heart of Hammelburg, wines can be tasted and purchased.
Stagnation has never been the Langes’ thing: with a sense for zeitgeist and enjoyment, they continually develop new experiential paths to wine—among them wine tastings and vineyard hikes with certified wine experience guide Ulrike Lange. What the younger generation will make of their parents’ life’s work is open, as the Langes know from their own experience. “We live our dream with the winery,” says Ulrike Lange, “not that of our sons. But what isn’t today can still become tomorrow: if our boys take their father as a role model, they can still switch to viticulture at 40.”
Text excerpts from the magazine: Frankens Saalestück
