he origin of the KNIPSER family was found in the northern part of Italy
- Suedtirol. The name is first mentioned in MERAN documents from the
16th century. A certain Gaudenz KNIPSER was city architect of MERAN
in 1573 and member of the city council. The family heraldry was given
to the KNIPSER family in 1582 by the archduke of Innsbruck. Johann
Georg Knipser, a grandson of Gaudenz Knipser, emigrated to Rheinpfalz
around 1615. In area of Bockenheim and Wachenheim he layed the foundation
for the Rheinpfalz family line of Knipser.
The Knipser family lives in Laumersheim since 1876. Initially, they were farmers,
typical for the region with mixed agricultural products. In addition to
wine, various fruits and vegetables were harvested. Wine was sold in barrels
to the retailers. As one of the first wine estates in the region, they
started already in 1948 with estate bottled wine and direct sales to private
customers and to restaurants. In the beginning of 1970s, the agricultural
production was totally changed to wine production only, which has then
continually been expanded.
The current owners of the estate, Volker and Werner Knipser, already in
the 1980s started to use small oak barrels - barriques. They increased
the share of red wine and started to grow new types of wines typical for
the region but also international ones - always of the best quality. The
return of the harvest is always below the average of the region and is
comparable to the international top wine producers.
This continuous striving for top quality was 1993 honored by the Association
for German Predicate Wine - VDP - by making the Knipser estate a member
of VDP.
Since 2005, Werner Knipser's oldest son Stephan is co-owner of the Knipser estate.
