Born on Christmas Eve in 1989, Julia Baltes (née Bertram) grew up in Dernau in the German wine region of the Ahr – one of the smallest and most northerly regions of Germany’s 13 official wine regions.

Wine was always a part of Julia’s life. Her family has grown vines and produced wine in the Ahr Valley for more than a century. She interned at the nearby Meyer-Näkel estate after graduating high school and went on to study viticulture and oenology at the acclaimed Geisenheim Institute in the Rheingau region. Soon after receiving her degree, Julia was elected the 64th German Wine Queen, serving as international ambassador for the German Wine Institute from 2012-2013 (Fun fact: Julia’s grandmother Rosemarie was elected Dernau’s wine queen in 1959!)

She then returned to the family business as the fifth generation to lead the estate, producing her first line of wines in 2014. Julia officially took over the estate from her mother and aunt in 2017 and transitioned to organic viticulture in 2019.

Today, Julia and her husband, Benedikt Baltes, run the family estate together. Benedikt is also a winemaker from the Ahr with a similar passion for Pinot Noir. He currently splits his time between the Bertram estate and Weingut Steintal – formerly Stadt Klingenberg – in Franken.

With Benedikt joining the Bertram family estate, Weingut Julia Bertram officially changed its name to Weingut Bertram-Baltes in March 2020.