About us

The winemakers

Not only our wines have interesting stories to tell

We have followed our long-standing passion. Markus quit his job after 25 years to study viticulture and oenology and to further develop the BIBO RUNGE winery and its wines together with Monika. We have the same idea of what distinguishes first-class wines: We love aroma-intensive wines that are superbly crafted and on point in every respect!

Markus Bonsels

Markus grew up in the countryside on the Lower Rhine. After studying biotechnology, he worked for some of the largest companies in the world. He never lost sight of one question: "What do you still want to achieve with your life? And because doing things is in his nature, Markus decided after careful consideration to quit his job and take a new path: studying viticulture and oenology in Montpellier, Bordeaux and Geisenheim, accompanied by internships with top winemakers in Germany and France. In the Rheingau he finally got to know Walter and the wines of BIBO RUNGE during research for his master's thesis. Since 2017 Markus has been continuing the successful history of the BIBO RUNGE winery with his wife Monika.

Monika Eichner

After 20 years as Human Resources Manager in international companies, Monika has decided to make her husband Markus' dream come true. After three years on the Moselle and one year in France, wine trips to Spain, Italy and California as well as through all German wine regions, she is pleased that the search for a winery has led her and her husband to BIBO RUNGE in the Rheingau. Seminars at the German Wine Institute, many conversations with Walter and Markus as well as intensive networking, e.g. at VINISISSIMA, form the basis for her work at the winery. "Learning by Doing" she has been experiencing every day since September 2017...

Our philosophy

Wine is a natural product and the question as to how much nature should be in a good wine is one that has to be answered by every winegrower. For every vintage, we ask ourselves: “What does a good wine need?” And we always come up with the same answer: “Good wine needs time.” One reason, why we are supporting Slow Food.

For us, this includes hand-picked grapes, so that only the best grapes are used in our wines. With very long maceration periods, we extract everything from these grapes and then press the mash gently and carefully in the basket press/ champagner press. We ferment each of our wines with natural yeasts in order to let them age as naturally as possible in oak barrels.

For us, the combination of maceration time, gentle pressing and slow ageing in wooden barrels is the foundation for top quality. That's how aromaintense wines are created that have been given time to develop themselves.

Für BIBO RUNGE führt der Weg zu einem guten Wein über die Entdeckung von Langsamkeit und Geduld – mit der Natur, mit unseren Weinen, für einen ganz besonderen Genuss. Deshalb ist auch Nachhaltigkeit für uns eine Herzensangelegenheit, nicht nur als Winzer. Seit 2021 sind wir zertifiziertes Mitglied bei FAIR’N GREEN, dem Nachhaltigkeitssiegel in der Weinbranche. FAIR’N GREEN unterstützt uns bei der weiteren nachhaltigen Entwicklung unseres Weingutes unter Berücksichtigung von ökologischen und sozialen Aspekten. Zusätzlich erfassen wir im Rahmen von Save Climate unsere Treibhausgasemissionen, um konkrete Reduktionsmaßnahmen umzusetzen, etwa 100% Strom aus erneuerbaren Energien, den Verzicht auf Herbizide/Glyphosatz und ressourcenschonendere Verpackungslösungen.

The coat of arms on our wines

Teufel und Pferd

The devil and the horse tell the story of the devil who rode through Hallgarten. When his horse lost a horseshoe, he pays the blacksmith with a pair of pliers that turns anything you touch into gold - the Hallgarten pliers (the highest mountain in Hallgarten 570m).

Freedom tree with Jacobin cap:

The first freedom tree in the Rheingau was erected in Hallgarten at the beginning of the 19th century. A freedom tree was one of the signs of protest against the social and economic grievances of the time and has been a symbol of freedom ever since. Since the revolutionaries of that time referred to the French Revolution. There, too, the trees of freedom were crowned with a Jacobin cap.

Seashell:

The shell adorns the Madonna sculpture in the Hallgartner church, which was built in 1417 and is known as the beautiful Hallgartner. There is even a copy in the Louvre in Paris.