Max Schönleber

The Path

At Geisenheim, oenology gave Max Schönleber the framework that underpins cellar work: method, sequence, and an exact sense of when details matter. That kind of training does not replace practical judgment; it gives it structure. The titles he holds today place him on both sides of the work. As kellermeister of Fritz Allendorf Weinhandel GmbH & Co. KG and winzer/inhaber of Weingut Fritz Allendorf Gbr, the responsibility is both technical and managerial: to oversee the cellar, and to maintain a family business with continuity in mind.

The Work Today

At Weingut Fritz Allendorf and Weingut Familie Allendorf, Max Schönleber works from a measured premise. His own description of the business is plain: “The company has always grown slowly and healthily.” That is a useful standard in winegrowing, where restraint can be a working method rather than a slogan. The same logic carries into the house’s present aims. “Our goal today is to stand on many legs,” he says, a phrase that points to resilience, range, and the practical problem of keeping an estate stable over time. The work, then, is less about quick expansion than about maintaining a structure that can hold across vintages and generations.

Signature

The wines associated with Max Schönleber’s cellar work include Quercus, Goethewein aus dem Brentanohaus, SAVE WATER DRINK RIESLING, Großes Gewächs, and 2021 Hasensprung Riesling Auslese. Read together, they show a range of naming registers: place-linked, class-based, and plainly contemporary. That spread suggests a cellar working within family continuity while making room for different forms of expression.

In Their Words “A significant step was the 1955 takeover and reorganization of the estate by my grandfather Fritz Allendorf, who moved the business from part-time to full-time operations.” “The company has always grown slowly and healthily.”

Acclaim

The named signature work here is the 2021 Hasensprung Riesling Auslese.