A brand founder being quietly replaced by a person of the same name might sound like the premise of a “Twilight Zone” episode — or a questionable Reddit thread — but sometimes, business just gets weird.
When Florian Moll and Sven Enderle launched the Enderle & Moll winery in 2007, they quickly gained a reputation for breaking the rules of conventional winemaking, and for producing some of the best Pinot Noirs in Germany. At the time, this model was a risky one. Though there are now many stunning examples of German Pinot Noir — as well as several high-status producers — many were still skeptical about the grape’s potential in the cool-climate east of its home in France.
Despite this, Enderle & Moll’s light yet powerful Pinot Noirs became known for their elegance and verve, which was especially impressive considering the estate then only consisted of a small cellar, a basket press, and a few hectares of old vines. Enderle & Moll was among the first producers in the area to work with used barrels and to value their provenance, sourcing them from the famed Domaine Dujac in Burgundy. The winery was also a pioneer of the natural wine movement in the region, bottling the wines unfined and unfiltered. The brand had achieved true cult status, a success story uncommon in the wine world.
But around 2019, rumors that the founders were splitting up began to circulate, and the future of the hit winery was in question. While some in
