Manufaktur Jörg Geiger — Prisecco & Co

Here you will find the Prisecco from Manufaktur Jörg Geiger - there are almost 30 Prisecco varieties, each more delicious than the last and always alcohol-free. But Jörg Geiger also produces alcoholic products, such as fruit sparkling wines made using traditional bottle fermentation, e.g. from the famous Champagner Bratbirne, sweet wines aged in Banyuls, chestnut wood or Cognac barrels, Wehmut or Don't call me Gin, as well as Swabian cider and craft cider.

Prisecco — Alcohol-free for good food

For almost 25 years, the name Jörg Geiger has stood for alcohol-free Prisecco, for sparkling wine made from old apple and pear varieties from the Swabian Alb, and fine distillates from rare fruit varieties. Jörg Geiger's heart beats for small, misshapen apples and pears, for almost forgotten old varieties. In his Manufaktur Jörg Geiger, he conjures up unique alcohol-free Secco from the fruits of old trees, some of which have been standing on the Swabian Alb for over 100 years, and calls it: Prisecco. What began with classic Prisecco varieties like Weißduftig, Rotfruchtig and Rosenzauber, soon gained company from seasonal Prisecco like Frühlingsduft and Winterbirnentraum. These were followed by Prisecco Cuvées like Cuvée No 7 with house plums, No 11 with oak leaves, No 15 with coffee, up to Cuvée No 31 with green tea.

Having grown up in a family of restaurateurs and being a trained chef himself, Jörg Geiger was looking for a tasty alcohol-free alternative to water or lemonade, because among the guests in his restaurant Lamm in Schlat near Göppingen and at various events, there was always someone who had to drive the car home. This led to the idea of Prisecco, an alcohol-free cocktail. Jörg Geiger toiled for a long time until he developed drinks as complex as wine - sweetness and acidity, tannins and complexity in the (natural) aromas - using fruit from old varieties that still have plenty of tannins, blossoms, leaves, herbs, spices and berries - that's what makes Prisecco from Manufaktur Jörg Geiger so special.

Pear sparkling wine with — Prisecco without alcohol

The youthful-looking Jörg Geiger grew up in his parents' restaurant, the over 300-year-old Gasthof Lamm, in Schlat near Göppingen, Swabia. In addition to the successful restaurant, his father ran a small distillery. There he produced single-variety distillates, such as the Stuttgarter Gaishirtle – a true rarity from an old pear variety. The passion for distilling and the commitment to preserving old varieties was passed on from father to son. But first, he became a chef, spent time in France and became the first German Professeur pour la Cuisson Sous Vide d'ecole Georges Pralus. In 1994, he returned home and took over the guesthouse in Schlat.

As a hobby, Jörg Geiger revived the production of sparkling wine from the Champagner Bratbirne in 1997, which, incidentally, is 66 years older than that made from grapes. A tart variety, unsuitable as a table pear, it hung largely unnoticed on the trees of the region. "Tart is when your mouth puckers when you bite into it," Jörg Geiger explains to me. Old varieties have more intrinsic value. They have more Oechsle, more acidity, more aroma, more taste and, indeed, more tannins. Makes sense!

On the 150 km2 of scattered orchards, strong fruit trees grow, giant pear trees, the majority of which are 100 to 150 years old. These old trees, which supply the fruits for single-variety brandies or delicious fruit sparkling wines, rise up to 12 meters into the sky and root up to ten meters deep into the ground. As with grapevines, old trees produce more intense fruit aromas and more taste and bring the terroir to the surface or into the fruit with their deep roots.

The pear sparkling wine made from the "Champagner-Bratbirne" from his small manufactory was popular with guests and customers, but the CIVC, the association of champagne producers, also became aware of Manufaktur Jörg Geiger GmbH and its products. A long, costly legal dispute ensued, which went all the way to the Federal Court of Justice. In 2007, it was settled with a compromise. The name of the old pear variety now appears, albeit small, on the back label. In the cellar of his manufactory, where the bottles ripen on the yeast, Jörg Geiger has kept bottles from this period with a wide variety of labels.

During this time, the hardworking Swabian did not mope around, but instead very successfully filled a market niche with alcohol-free Prisecco. But Jörg Geiger does not rest on his laurels; recently, the Manufaktur Jörg Geiger range has also included an apple vermouth, a gin based on an apple brandy, and several craft ciders, such as the Most Wanted Cider or the Wiesenobst Cider or the Swabian Cider - all made from the juice of apples and pears from scattered orchards, enriched with blossoms and spices and with great taste, and like the Priseccos, truly handcrafted.