Mathieu Kauffmann

The Climb

At Champagne Bollinger in Aÿ, the Chef de cave’s brief from 2000 to 2013 was a study in house style under pressure: decisions made by tasting, timing, and technical control, with the work answered back by vineyard and cellar alike. Mathieu Kauffmann held that position through a period that placed precision ahead of display, and the span shows how a great estate asks for discipline as much as judgment. The move to Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl in Deidesheim, where he served as kellermeister und technischer direktor from 2013 to 2019, carried that same logic into another framework of cellar management and style, where the character of the wine depends on the quality of the choices made out of sight. Taken together, the two appointments mark a career built on observation, control, and a close reading of what the material is already offering.

Today

Vineyard, soil, tasting, technical detail: these are the terms that keep Mathieu Kauffmann’s work grounded. In that register, the vineyard comes first, not as decoration but as the point from which the wine must be understood, and the cellar exists to protect that work rather than overwrite it. The language is practical because the subject is practical: roots, structure, vitality, and the measured act of translating a living site into wine.

In Their Words “Walking into a living vineyard, looking at the diversity of the plants, is immensely satisfying. Bringing the soil to life is my goal.” “Good wine is made in the vineyard,” many say, but few actually do it. I pay very close attention to the vitality of the soils. Those lines place the emphasis where his work says it belongs: before the bottle, before the cellar finish, in the condition of the ground itself. The craft here is not about ornament or claims of authorship. It is about reading what the vineyard gives, checking the health of the soil, and using technical skill to support what the site can already express.

Recognition

Mathieu's honors include Falstaff Wine Trophy, Winzer des Jahres (2019) and Gault & Millau Weinguide 2020, Winzer des Jahres (2019). Those awards sit within a career defined by exacting standards and close attention to the soil, confirming the kind of discipline his roles already make clear.