Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken
- Location
- Saarburg, Saar
- Founded
- 1742 (Weinbau der Familie dokumentiert); Name seit 1947
- Vineyard area
- 12,8 ha
- Member of
- VDP
Home of Riesling editorial team · researched on 24 September 2026
Profile
The roots of this Saarburg estate go back to 1742; a defining figure was the royal Prussian forestry official (Forstmeister) Ferdinand Geltz, co-founder of the Großer Ring, from which the VDP Mosel-Saar-Ruwer emerged. After the buildings were destroyed in 1944, Marianne and Fritz Zilliken continued the business from 1947 under its present name and in 1950 moved into the family seat in the Heckingstraße. Today Dorothee Zilliken runs the estate; just under 13 hectares of steep south-facing sites on Devonian slate and diabase are planted exclusively with Riesling, above all Saarburger Rausch and Ockfener Bockstein. Fermentation and ageing take place in neutral Fuder casks in a deep, cool vaulted cellar, which helps shape the delicate, long-lived wines.
The people
Dorothee Zilliken (owner, 11th generation); cellar masters according to the VDP: Hanno and Philipp Zilliken, Niclas Reis; Ruth Zilliken
Voices from the estate
From third-party interviews. These quotes come from interviews and profiles in other media, not from our own conversations. The source is given with each one.
We think it's more worth to produce it there because we have a Devonian Slate terroir, which is the best condition for growing Riesling.Unsere Rieslinge sollen stets elegant, filigran sowie ausdrucksstark sein und Trinkfreude vermitteln.