A Dutch grower in Zeeland loads three tanks of base wine onto a truck and ships them to the Mosel. Months later, his sparkling wine returns in bottle, ready to sell. The company doing that work for around 250 wineries is Schaufelberger Sekt in Brauneberg.
For Sparks episode 17 Jochen Schaufelberger joined to explain how Sekt by méthode traditionnelle is made, why a growing number of Dutch and Belgian wineries outsource their sparkling production to him, and what German Sektsteuer does to a bottle’s pricing. Three of his own wines on the table: a Cuvée Magic, a Grauburgunder and the Brauneberger Juffer Cremant.
Who is Jochen Schaufelberger
Jochen is 31 and lives in Brauneberg, in the heart of the Mosel valley. He is originally from Southern Germany and arrived in the sparkling wine world through a hobby. Magic. He has been a magician since age nine, and he sees making sparkling wine as a kindred form of magic where both worlds fit. The label of his flagship Cuvée Magic shows a rabbit in a top hat.
The company itself goes back to the 1980s. His predecessors started with second-hand Champagne machines and were happy at 150 bottles a day. Today the line runs at 600 to 700 bottles an hour. Jochen took the company over in 2022.
What Schaufelberger does
Two things. Make Sekt under the house label, and make sparkling wine for other wineries that cannot or will not handle the equipment, space, dwell times, customs and labor on their own. Around 250 customers now:
- 125,000 bottles of sparkling wine per year (méthode traditionnelle)
- 150,000 bottles of Frizzante / Secco per year (direct impregnation)
Customers come mostly from the Mosel, Pfalz, Nahe and Ahr. Plus by now Belgium, the Netherlands, and even one Greek winemaker from Nemea who sends an Assyrtico cuvée to Schaufelberger for second fermentation in bottle.
In 2016 Jochen worked seven months in the Netherlands (Leeuwarden, Winschoten, harvest at Friese Wijn). That trip seeded his interest in the Dutch market. He sent Dutch-language letters to Dutch wineries and now works with around ten Dutch and Belgian customers, including Wijn de Boe (Bruno).
The production flow
A winery brings finished base wine to Brauneberg. The specs are strict:
- Alcohol between 10.5 and 11 percent (no more than around 87 g/l), so the second fermentation does not stall
- Low sulfur
- Lab analysis sent in advance
At Schaufelberger, the wine goes first to chilled stabilization at −3°C. Tartrate crystals fall out and get filtered, otherwise an opened bottle would empty itself. Then sugar is added (up to 24 g/l) along with yeast that was activated a day in advance. Bottles are filled, capped with a crown cap and stored horizontally in cases.
Standard ageing is 9 months. Shorter gives a fruitier profile, longer (24 months or more) gives brioche, toast and yeast tones. For some clients Schaufelberger holds bottles for years, up to 5, 6 or 7 years, with hand riddling. Others come pick them up sooner.
Then comes dégorgement. Freeze the necks, remove the cap, top up with dosage, drive the cork and wirehood, label. Fully automated, because at a thousand bottles a hand-operated rig is too expensive, and at industrial volumes manual work is impossible.
Tasting Cuvée Magic
Three different grapes, which ones Jochen will not say. A good magician does not reveal the trick. 2022 vintage, dégorgement September 2024, extra brut at 3.5 grams. 73 calories per glass.
The nose lands on apple, tropical fruit, peach, pineapple, plus bread and yeast notes. The palate is in real balance. Soft acidity, integrated mousse, gentle attack. None of the rough edge of a freshly disgorged Sekt. Jochen does this on purpose. He thinks sparkling wines only come into shape around two months past dégorgement, and even better six months to a year out.
Cuvée Magic at €14 wholesale, €16 retail.
Tasting the Grauburgunder
Different grape (Pinot Gris), same 2022 vintage, dégorgement April 2024. Over a year past dégorgement.
Crisp, fresh, full of fruit. Lime, apple, classic Pinot Gris vocabulary. The wine ages markedly longer on the lees than Cuvée Magic. More toast, more structure, fuller palate. €16 retail. A clean example of what extra lees ageing does for texture.
Brauneberger Juffer Cremant
The prestige cuvée. Brauneberger Juffer is a Grosse Lage, one of the best-known vineyards on the Mosel. In 1976, a Spätlese from this site was served at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Jochen hand-picked his grapes from this site, processed them on the company’s old wooden press, and rested the wine 24 months on the lees. Dégorgement March 2025, so very recent.
Surprisingly not raw. Lively, warm, full, round, elegant. Long finish. Not a loud wine. Not expensive in the global Cremant context: €39.
Sekt and German tax
A bottle of sparkling wine above 3 bar in Germany falls under Sektsteuer at €1.02 per bottle. A Frizzante or Secco at up to 2.5 bar does not. Plus VAT on top.
What this means for cheap supermarket Sekt:
- Retail price: €4
- Sektsteuer: €1.02
- VAT: roughly €0.75
- Empty bottle: €0.60 to €0.70
- Filling, cork, wirehood, label: roughly €1
- What is left for the wine itself: about €1
Which is why a real bottle priced between €14 and €40 is a much better quality deal than a €2.49 supermarket Sekt. The tax weighs disproportionately on the low end.
Magnums pay double Sektsteuer, by the way. Otherwise Jochen would bottle everything in 15-liter formats, he laughs.
What else Schaufelberger offers
Not just one standard format. Demi (half-bottle), Magnum, and special flute-shaped bottles. Both second fermentation in bottle and direct impregnation (Frizzante / Secco) for the lower-pressure, lower-tax segment.
Some PIWI / hybrid work for Dutch customers, though the house label has not leaned into that yet.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Sekt and Frizzante? Sekt has 6 bar of pressure and is made by second fermentation in bottle (méthode traditionnelle). Frizzante has up to 2.5 bar and is made by direct CO2 impregnation of finished wine. Only Sekt is subject to German Sektsteuer.
Who are Schaufelberger’s customers? Around 250 wineries, mostly from the Mosel, Pfalz, Nahe and Ahr. Plus around ten Dutch and Belgian wineries, and one Greek Assyrtico producer from Nemea.
How long does it take from base wine to finished bottle? Standard 9 months on the lees plus a few weeks for dégorgement, corking and labeling. For longer ageing (12 to 24 months or more) the timeline extends accordingly.
Can I make Frizzante at home with a SodaStream? Don’t. Unless you are planning to renovate the kitchen anyway.
Reaching Schaufelberger as a winery
Jochen speaks a bit of Dutch. For Dutch and Belgian wineries interested in outsourcing sparkling production: visit schaufelberger-sekt.de or send an email. You can also stop by to see the production hall or join the Magische Sektprobe once or twice a month.
The bottles in this episode
Cuvée Magic. Blend of three secret grapes. Extra brut, 3.5 grams sugar. 2022 vintage. €14 retail.
Grauburgunder. 100 percent Pinot Gris, longer lees ageing, toastier. €16 retail.
Brauneberger Juffer Cremant. Grapes from a Grosse Lage, hand-picked, old wooden press, 24 months on the lees. €39 retail.
More about Schaufelberger Sekt
Visit schaufelberger-sekt.de. For the conversation that put this collaboration on the radar, see the earlier Sparks with Bruno of Wijn de Boe.
Listen
Watch