Of course, no one knew at the time that the foundation stone for the German sparkling wine fairytale was laid by a young winemaking student in 1981. Like most fairy tales, this one begins quite calmly. Once upon a time in Rheinhessen, the winemaker’s son Volker Raumland set out into the world “to learn something sensible”: an industrial clerk at Siemens. Afterwards he goes to the Bundeswehr. But at 25, Raumland thinks: “Another office chair in another store, no, there has to be more going on in life.” Like so many daughters and sons who leave their parents’ winery, Raumland is now drawn back to the vines and grapes, to the vineyards and barrels. He did internships in the wine world and attended the University of Viticulture in Geisenheim in the Rheingau in 1980.