Oliver Schell

Oliver Schell has been at the helm of the family estate since 2018 when he was aged just 27. He has helped to put a new style of German Pinot Noir on the map, making Burgundian style site specific wines. When frustrated that he couldn’t find a map of the plots of vines in the valley, he decided to create one (see above), which has now become commonplace in many of the tasting rooms across the region. Oliver’s father still tends the vines and manages a team of 4, focusing on limited intervention and timely application of treatments only where necessary, allowing the terroir to shine through in the winery. 

Oliver has gone from strength to strength winning a number of awards, including the 2024 Lagen Cup with the 2021 Dernauer Pfarrwingert, a bi annual competition for single plot German red wines, being one of the youngest winemakers ever to win the cup. The 2022 Charmeur won the same competition in the Frühburgunder category. The 2021 Dernauer Pfarrwingert was also awarded Best German Pinot Noir at Mundus Vini 2023, and all 4 Schell wines presented won an award at the competition.

Oliver is a winemaker with ambition and is determined to compete on the largest stage with his wines, despite being from Germany’s 4th smallest region, roughly 1/7th of the size of the Côte de Nuits. The devastating floods in the Ahr valley of July 2021 claimed 134 lives and destroyed everything in its path. In the Recher Blumer plot, just below Herrenberger, Oliver lost 10,000 m2 of vines and has permanently lost half of this plot to new planting laws preventing vines close to the flood level.  80% of the wine from that year was lost as were 100% of the barrels. 

These wines represent exceptional value compared to any single plot Pinot Noirs produced anywhere else in the world. As the winemakers and residents of the Ahr rebuild, it will not be long before Oliver’s influence has been felt across the valley.