Importing is logistics and logistics suck.

In fact, this part of the gig is far and away the least interesting thing we do.

The meaningful part of the work is supporting the grower and what they do – being the grower’s champion, advocate and friend. This is really what it’s all about. Funny almost no one talks about it.

Photograph by WOWE, Haus Waldfrieden, July 2023. Small growers, small company. From left to right: John Ritchie, Cari Bernard, Stephen Bitterolf, Collin Wagner, PJ Rosenberg, and Collin Moody.

Vom Boden is a small company, focusing on small growers, and it will stay that way. The heart of the portfolio is clearly in Germany, though we are proud to represent small estates in Austria, France and the U.S.

What is the unifying factor? They are all human-scaled wineries. They are small.

It’s impossible to overemphasize the importance to us of this “human scale.” Economies of scale make economic sense, but they also seem to neutralize the detail, the personality, the very thing we are searching for in wine.

I do not think there is an import book with a larger number of smaller estates. Yes, we are the biggest of the smallest. I’m proud of this.

All vom Boden winemaker/growers occupy a sort of periphery, either in terms of their geography or how they work in their respective geographies. Vom Boden: the center of the edge.

Our growers work their vineyards in methods that respect their vineyards. This is less a matter of dogma and marketing, less a matter of being organic or biodynamic and more a matter of respect for the land, for doing things the right way (yes, most are working or certified organic and biodynamic).

In all these old world countries, good farming is often part and parcel of preserving sites which have been worked for generations, for the next generation. All in all the growers of vom Boden use rather non-interventionist methods – the clichéd “less is more” thing. The “geek sheets” for each producer (on their respective pages) will give you the details on exactly how each grower works.

To see more about the best-selling book, vom Boden: Ten Years of Hocks & Moselles, please click here.

To hear Stephen chat with Grape Nation about the new German landscape and renaissance in German wine, click the link below!