The Beer Region Escapees & the Slow Maceration
KarSey Winemaking is the young, avant-garde natural wine project of Pia and Christopher (Cris) Karamarko-Seybold — a couple who left the beer-famous region of Middle Franconia, moved to the heart of the Steigerwald forest, and built their winery from scratch in an old farmhouse with nothing but courage, devotion, and a deep understanding of nature. From the Keuper soils of Ebrach, where gypsum and marl provide a deep, savory minerality quite different from the limestone of other Franconian corners, they produce untamed, wild "Vins Vivants" with extremely long skin maceration — sometimes two months or more — and significant time resting in barrel before bottling. Their wines are intentionally rough around the edges: unfined, unfiltered, hazy, and complex, with deep textures and herbal notes that speak of the forest, the patience, and the refusal to conform to the iconic Bocksbeutel tradition. This is not merely a winery; it is a family adventure, a regenerative manifesto, and a proof that wine can be art, nature, and rebellion all at once.
Pia & Cris Karamarko-Seybold & the Dream from Scratch
The story of KarSey Winemaking is a story of deliberate escape — of a couple who looked at the map of Franconia, chose the forest over the beer garden, and decided to build something from nothing. Pia and Christopher (Cris) Karamarko-Seybold are originally from Middle Franconia — a region of Germany far more famous for beer than for wine, where the culture of brewing runs deeper than the culture of viticulture. But they were not content with the familiar. They were driven by a shared dream: to create a winery entirely their own, without inherited land, without family tradition, and without the constraints of convention.
They found their place in Ebrach, a village in the heart of the Steigerwald forest in Franconia — an area of rolling hills, dense woodland, and vineyards that cling to the slopes of the Keuper formation. Here, in an old farmhouse that they converted into a winery, they began their adventure with six barrels and an old basket press — a modest setup that would become the crucible for some of the most uncompromising natural wines in Germany. The early years were a GbR (partnership) phase, a learning process in which every mistake was a lesson and every vintage a step toward finding their voice. Cris studied at Geisenheim University, Germany's most prestigious wine school, bringing technical rigour to the project; Pia brought the operational clarity, the artistic vision, and the family energy that turned a farmhouse into a home.
Today, KarSey Winemaking is a family business in the truest sense — Pia and Cris are a young family with two small children, and the winery is not separate from their life but integral to it. The children grow up among the vines, the barrels, and the old basket press. The farmhouse is not merely a production facility; it is a home, a studio, and a statement of intent. The name KarSey is a fusion of the founders' surnames — Karamarko and Seybold — but it is also a name that sounds like a promise: short, memorable, and slightly mysterious, like the wines themselves.
The project is part of a "new wave" of Franconian winemakers who are moving away from traditional mass production and the iconic Bocksbeutel bottle — the squat, round flask that has defined Franconian wine for centuries — in favor of wild, unmanipulated "Vins Vivants." KarSey does not make wine for the tourist shop or the conventional restaurant; they make wine for the curious drinker, the natural wine bar, and the believer that wine should be alive, unpredictable, and honest. From the first experimental vintage to the current releases, the arc of KarSey is the arc of a couple who dared to dream, who built from scratch, and who found that the forest had been waiting for them all along.
"Natural. Wine. Art. No frills, no chemistry. Only pure, unadulterated quality. Direct from the vine and from the earth."
— KarSey Winemaking
Ebrach, Steigerwald & the Keuper of Franconia
The Steigerwald is one of Franconia's most distinctive landscapes — a forested range of hills in northern Bavaria, where the vineyards are tucked between dense woodland and the rolling countryside, and where the climate is noticeably cooler and more sheltered than the open valleys of the Main River. Ebrach sits at the heart of this forest, a village surrounded by oak and beech, by the silence of the trees and the gentle slopes of the Keuper formation. It is not the limestone-rich Franconia of the Main valley; it is the Keuper Franconia of the Steigerwald — a terroir defined by gypsum and marl, by deep, savory minerality, and by a coolness that preserves acidity and tension in a way that warmer sites cannot.
The Keuper soil is the defining geological feature of KarSey's vineyards. Keuper — a triassic formation of marl, gypsum, and clay — is full of ancient minerals that impart a distinctive savory, almost salty character to the wines. The gypsum provides drainage and a distinct mineral brightness; the marl retains moisture and nutrients, sustaining the vines through dry summers; and the clay adds structure and body to the grapes. The result is a terroir that produces wines of high natural acidity, great tension, and a deep, earthy minerality that distinguishes them from the lighter, more floral wines of the limestone regions. The Keuper is not an easy soil; it is a demanding, poor-in-organic-matter soil that forces the vines to struggle, to dig deep, and to produce fruit of startling concentration and character.
The farming is natural and regenerative — no chemicals, no synthetic pesticides, no herbicides, and no synthetic fertilisers. Pia and Cris practise biodiversity-focused viticulture, with a deep commitment to regenerative soil work that builds the health of the land rather than depleting it. The vineyard is not a monoculture; it is part of the forest ecosystem, surrounded by trees, wild plants, and the beneficial insects that the Steigerwald shelters. The vines are tended by hand, harvested by hand, and treated with the respect that natural winemaking demands. The goal is not maximum yield but maximum vitality — grapes that carry the full microbial and mineral fingerprint of the Keuper terroir, essential for the long-maceration, no-additive winemaking that defines the project.
The climate is continental with forest moderation — cold winters, warm summers, and the cooling influence of the surrounding Steigerwald that preserves the acidity essential for balanced, fresh wines. The forest acts as a thermal buffer, moderating the temperature swings and providing a habitat for biodiversity that regulates the vineyard's ecosystem. The result is a terroir that produces grapes of small berry size, thick skins, and natural acidity — ideal material for the long skin maceration and extended barrel aging that KarSey practises. The Keuper imparts a distinct stony, savory, and sometimes almost smoky character that distinguishes these wines from the richer, more rounded styles of the southern Franconian plain. This is not the gentle Franconia of the tourist brochures; it is the wild Franconia of the forest, the stone, and the patient vigneron.
KarSey Winemaking is located in Ebrach, in the heart of the Steigerwald forest in Franconia (Franken), northern Bavaria, Germany. The project is a micro-production boutique winery founded around 2019 by Pia and Christopher (Cris) Karamarko-Seybold. Originally from Middle Franconia (a beer-famous region), they moved to the Steigerwald to start their winery from scratch in an old farmhouse. Natural wine production with no chemicals, no additives, long skin maceration, and extended barrel aging. Part of the "new wave" of Franconian winemakers moving away from the Bocksbeutel tradition.
The vineyards sit on Keuper soil — a triassic formation of gypsum, marl, and clay that is full of ancient minerals. The gypsum provides drainage and mineral brightness; the marl retains moisture and nutrients; the clay adds structure and body. The Keuper is poor in organic matter but rich in mineral complexity — exactly the conditions that produce small berries, thick skins, and concentrated juice. No synthetic chemicals are used. The terroir is defined by stone, forest, and the deep, savory minerality that distinguishes the Steigerwald from the limestone regions of Franconia.
Natural and regenerative farming with no herbicides, pesticides, or synthetic fertilisers. Biodiversity-focused viticulture with a deep commitment to regenerative soil work. The vineyard is part of the forest ecosystem, surrounded by trees, wild plants, and beneficial insects. Hand-tended vines, hand-harvested grapes. The goal is not maximum yield but maximum vitality — grapes that carry the full microbial and mineral fingerprint of the Keuper terroir, essential for the long-maceration, no-additive winemaking that defines the project.
The winery is housed in an old farmhouse converted by Pia and Cris into a working cellar — a modest, intimate space where six barrels and an old basket press form the spiritual centre of the operation. The cellar is not a technological facility; it is a historical workshop where time, wood, and gravity do the work. The basket press demands physical effort and patience — slow, labor-intensive, and absolutely necessary for the purity of must that KarSey demands. This is a garage in the truest sense: a place where curiosity replaces commerce, and where the natural process is trusted above all else.
No Chemicals & the Two-Month Maceration
The guiding philosophy of KarSey Winemaking is expressed in four words: no chemicals, no additives, no hurry, no compromise. Pia and Cris describe their work as "the natural way of wine" — a strict no-chemical, no-additive philosophy that governs every decision from pruning to bottling. Their goal is to produce "untamed" wines that mirror the climate of each specific year rather than striving for a consistent, year-to-year flavor profile. This is not a reaction against modernity; it is a return to the oldest possible methodology, informed by Cris's Geisenheim training, by the couple's deep understanding of nature, and by their conviction that wine should be wild, honest, and unmanipulated.
The methodology is deliberately primitive and rigorously patient. Harvest is entirely manual, carried out in small quantities across the micro-production, and transported immediately to the cellar. The wines often undergo extremely long skin maceration — sometimes two months or more — a duration that would be unthinkable in conventional winemaking but that produces the deep textures, hazy appearance, and complex herbal notes that define the KarSey style. The whites and orange wines are macerated on their skins for extended periods, extracting phenolic complexity, tannic structure, and the wild, earthy character that only time on skins can provide. The reds are handled with equal patience: whole-bunch or destemmed fermentation, gentle extraction, and minimal intervention.
The wines spend significant time resting in the barrel — up to several years in some cases — before they are deemed ready for bottling. This is not aging for the sake of prestige; it is aging for the sake of integration, of allowing the wine to find its own equilibrium before it meets the world. The barrels are old, neutral, and used for texture and micro-oxygenation rather than flavor. The sulfur protocol is minimal to non-existent: no sulfur is added during fermentation, and only the smallest possible amounts — if any — are used at bottling. The wines are neither filtered nor fined, preserving their natural turbidity, their living yeasts, and their evolving texture. This demands absolute cleanliness in the cellar, perfect grape health in the vineyard, and a willingness to accept that each bottle will be slightly different from the next.
The cellar is not a technological facility; it is the old farmhouse where the wines ferment at their own pace and are bottled with minimal intervention. There is no temperature-controlled tank farm, no laboratory analysis dictating additions, no consultant recommending corrective enzymes. There is only Pia, Cris, the grapes, and the patience to let the wine take the time it needs. The result is a portfolio of wines that are intentionally "rough around the edges" — unfined, unfiltered, wild, and alive — wines that change in the glass, that evolve in the bottle, and that carry the unmistakable signature of a couple who have built their winery from scratch and who refuse to let the forest be silenced by convention. Time is their stylistic device, and trust in the natural process is their religion.
Native Yeasts, Long Maceration & No Additives
The guiding principle of KarSey's winemaking is that the wine must be untamed, wild, and honest. Their approach — natural and regenerative farming in the Steigerwald, hand harvest in small quantities, extremely long skin maceration (sometimes two months or more), spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, significant time resting in old barrels (up to several years), no temperature manipulation, no enzymatic additions, no filtration, no fining, and minimal or zero added sulfites — is not a rejection of modernity but a deeper application of it. The long maceration provides the whites and oranges with their signature deep textures, hazy appearance, and complex herbal notes. The extended barrel aging ensures integration and equilibrium. The absence of filtration preserves the living texture and the natural haze. And the absence of additives ensures that the wine speaks with the unvarnished voice of the Keuper soil and the Steigerwald forest. The cellar is not a laboratory; it is an old farmhouse where time, wild yeast, and the forest do the work, and Pia and Cris provide the patience, the courage, and the absolute refusal to add anything.
Sermon, Domina & the Wild Vins Vivants
KarSey Winemaking produces a focused, micro-production portfolio from the Keuper soils of Ebrach in the Steigerwald forest. The wines are deliberately few in number but high in character — each cuvée a distinct expression of the forest terroir, made with extremely long skin maceration, extended barrel aging, no filtration, and no additives. Because KarSey is a micro-producer, their cuvées change frequently based on the vintage, but they generally focus on natural whites and orange wines based on Silvaner or Müller-Thurgau, and reds based on Domina — all characterized by deep textures, hazy appearance, and complex herbal notes due to the long skin contact. The style is intentionally "rough around the edges" — unfined, unfiltered, and wild, often appealing to those who enjoy the "funky" side of the natural wine spectrum. The names are personal and evocative: Sermon — a Silvaner of profound depth and preaching intensity; Domina — a red of commanding presence and earthy power; and other cuvées that shift with the vintage and the forest's mood. The portfolio spans white, orange, and red — all united by a common character of raw authenticity, Keuper minerality, and the unmistakable signature of a couple who refuse to let the Bocksbeutel tradition define their voice.
"We believe in patience and slow winemaking. Our wines often undergo extremely long skin maceration — sometimes two months or more — and spend significant time resting in the barrel before they are deemed ready for bottling."
— KarSey Winemaking
The Untamed & the Family Adventure
To understand KarSey Winemaking, one must understand that it is not merely a winery; it is a family adventure, a regenerative manifesto, and a proof that wine can be art, nature, and rebellion all at once. Pia and Cris Karamarko-Seybold are not heirs to a centuries-old estate; they are a young couple who left the beer region, moved to the forest, and built their winery from scratch with six barrels and an old basket press. The identity of the project is defined by this audacity: the audacity to start from zero, the audacity to reject the Bocksbeutel tradition, the audacity to macerate for two months, the audacity to age for several years, and the audacity to make wines that are intentionally "rough around the edges."
The identity is also defined by family — the family that Pia and Cris have built, with two small children growing up among the vines and the barrels. The winery is not separate from their life; it is their life. The children learn the rhythms of the vineyard before they learn the rhythms of the classroom. The farmhouse is not merely a production facility; it is a home, a studio, and a sanctuary. This is not a corporate enterprise; it is a family adventure, and the wine carries the warmth, the chaos, and the love of a home where the cellar is downstairs and the nursery is upstairs.
The future of KarSey Winemaking is tied to the continued exploration of the Keuper soils of Ebrach, the deepening of regenerative practices, and the gradual expansion of a portfolio that already spans white, orange, and red. Pia and Cris are eager to go further — to experiment with longer macerations, to explore forgotten varieties, and to obtain ever more natural expressions from the fruit of their own forest. The Sermon will continue to be the flagship of depth, the Silvaner that announces their arrival. The Domina will continue to be the red standard, the commanding wine that proves the Steigerwald's power. And the vintage cuvées will continue to shift and evolve, proving that a micro-producer with integrity can produce wines as honest as any estate.
In an age of increasing industrialisation in wine — of global varieties, engineered yeasts, and corporate consolidation — KarSey Winemaking stands as a compelling alternative, not because it rejects modernity but because it has embraced a deeper modernity: one that values an old farmhouse over a factory, six barrels over a tank farm, an old basket press over a pneumatic crusher, two months of maceration over a three-day cycle, several years of barrel aging over a rushed release, no chemicals over systemic pesticides, no additives over corrective enzymes, the forest's biodiversity over the monoculture, the family's courage over the consultant's fee, and the specific voice of the Steigerwald over the standardised replication of a global style. KarSey Winemaking is not merely making wine; it is proving that a couple can build a winery from scratch, that the forest can produce wines of startling depth, that a wine with no additives can possess the most profound identity, and that the simplest philosophy — no frills, no chemistry, only pure, unadulterated quality — is often the most profound. From the first vintage in the old farmhouse to the 2024 release: all united in one bottle, one forest, one unanswerable argument for the possibility of authentic, natural, unfiltered, hand-made, passionately wild wine from the Keuper heart of the Steigerwald.
Pia and Christopher (Cris) Karamarko-Seybold — originally from Middle Franconia (a beer-famous region), they moved to the Steigerwald forest to build their winery from scratch. Cris studied at Geisenheim University; Pia brings the artistic vision and operational clarity. They are a young family with two small children, growing up among the vines and barrels. The winery is housed in an old farmhouse with six barrels and an old basket press. This is a family adventure where the personal, the agricultural, and the artistic are inseparable, and the wine carries the signature of a couple who dared to dream in the forest.
Four absolute prohibitions: no chemicals, no additives, no filtration, no fining. Indigenous yeasts only. Hand harvest across micro-production quantities. Extremely long skin maceration (sometimes 2+ months). Extended barrel aging (up to several years). No temperature manipulation. No enzymatic additions. Minimal or zero added sulfites. The wines are as natural and wild as German wine comes — regeneratively farmed, spontaneously fermented, unfiltered, unfined, and purely expressive of the Keuper soils of the Steigerwald. A proof that the family's patience and the forest's honesty often produce the purest, most untamed wines.