The history of Weinsalon natürel
In 2014 only five winemakers from three different countries gathered for a little in-house exhibition in „La Vincaillerie” in Cologne Ehrenfeld. A small in-house exhibition presenting only small producers of natural wine in contrast to the world’s biggest wine fair ProWein in Düsseldorf that took place the same week-end. After great feedback both from winemakers and visitors the first version of Weinsalon natürel, as we know it today was set up in 2015. The first natural wine fair of Germany was born and about 50 natural winemakers from all over Europe came to Cologne to present their wines to an international audience. Still set up as an alternative program to the ProWein trade fair in Düsseldorf, Weinsalon natürel has kept its status as Germany’s biggest trade fair for natural wine for wines that fit into the criteria that are applied at the fair (nothing added – nothing removed; max 30mg/l sulphur). It manages to bring the who-is-who of Germany’s natural wine scene and other European top producers to Cologne ever since.
The fact that Weinsalon natürel is going into its seventh edition is also part of the story of natural wine in Germany. In 2015 german natural wine was hard to find and most of the wines came from other european countries, mostly from France. A totally different picture compared to what happened in 2022, when more than 50% of the wines were actually german. Alongside the development of Weinsalon natürel the number of German natural winemakers has grown constantly over the past seven years. Nowadays Germany's natural wine makers are internationally well respected and their courage seems to be influential.
Hören Sie hier einen Audiobeitrag von Manou Fuchs aus dem Jahr 2019. Mit Stimmen von Surk-ki Schrade, Helmut Gote, Winzern und Messebesuchern.
The Organizers
So, who is in charge? Surk-ki Schrade, owner of “la Vincaillerie” and natural wine merchant since 2010 has long been a mouthpiece of the natural wine scene as well as patron and mentor for many young winemakers in Germany. She has a broad network and is well respected internationally for her courage and her pioneering spirit. In 2021 she has published the first German authored book about natural wine 'Natürlich Wein'in which she gives an overview about the history of wine in general as well as the status quo of natural wine in Germany. In 2020 she initiated the founding of 'Naturknall e.V.' an association whose aim is to represent the interests of natural winemakers in Germany and whose members take a big part in organising and conducting this year’s Weinsalon.
As this question has been asked many times in the past: Weinsalon natürel is not a wine fair that presents the product line of la Vincaillerie, but there is of course some overlapping. So, feel free to check out the store or the website...There is a lot to discover!
