Dorothee Zilliken

Training at University of Applied Science in Geisenheim gave Dorothee Zilliken a formal frame for a craft already embedded in the family estate. That education fed back into Weingut Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken, where she stepped into an 11th-generation role and into the continuity of the house’s winemaking line. She is also second chair of VDP-Mosel, a position that sits alongside the estate work and reflects the same steady discipline.

Riesling sits at the center of Dorothee Zilliken’s work at the Saarburg estate, and the grape remains closely tied to her name. As manager and lead winemaker, she is responsible for both oversight and close handling, shaping the estate’s direction while staying near the material decisions that define the wine. The job is built on repetition, observation, and the sort of knowledge that accumulates over seasons.

Dorothee's signature dishes include Butterfly Riesling. The name points to the lighter register often associated with her work, set against the seriousness of the estate’s long inheritance.

Recognition here comes through role rather than rhetoric. As manager and lead winemaker, Dorothee Zilliken stands for continuity in practice: family lineage carried forward through repeated decisions, and through work that is measured season by season.