Quality is still the standard of the Thanisch family estate. A great part of this quality is due to the Doctor Cellar that is hewn deep into the rocks beneath the vineyard. Here all Thanisch wines are matured in traditional old oak Fuder casks at a constant year-round temperature of 8° C (45° F). In the mid 1990’s, the family has invested heavily into modern technology, gentle handling of uncrushed grapes and temperature controlled fermentation equipment. The vintages since 1997 reflect this improvement. Margrit Müller-Burggraef, a granddaughter of Dr. Hugo Thanisch, passed the estate on to her niece, Barbara Rundquist-Müller in January of 2007. Since then, considerable effort has been taken to practices sustainable agriculture in its now 16 hectares (40 acres) of prime Mosel Valley vineyards, with no use of pesticides, herbicides (special herbs are planted to kill weeds), insecticides (use of pheromones instead), no chemical fertilizers (only mulch from pips, stems and skins of grapes) or heavy machinery which compacts the slaty soils with nearly all work done by hand. Environmentally-friendly practices extend to the cellar where there is no use of artificial enzymes, sorbic acid (commonly used to stabilize wine), industrial cleaners and only minimal use of sulphur dioxide. The results produce wines with more purity and expression of their unique terroirs.