Balthasar Ress

*** The history of Balthasar Ress goes far back into the 19th century and begins not with a winery, which would almost be boring, but with the Ress family of butchers. In Hattenheim, the Resses were butchers for generations. To this day, the "Metzgerei Ress" still exists.

in 1870, Balthasar Ress founded the Gasthof Ress in the Rheingau community of Hattenheim, thus beginning a long gastronomic tradition. At the end of the 19th century, Balthasar Ress also bought a property in Rheinallee - today's "Kronenschlösschen" - and in 1894 opened the Ress Hotel, which was to decisively shape the gastronomic landscape of the Rheingau for almost 100 years under the management of the Ress family. At the very beginning, of course, the Ress wines were on the menu, and they were unpretentiously given the name "Von Unserm" (from our estate).

Much has happened since the beginnings of the Balthasar Ress winery. One of his sons - Carl Ress - took over the winery, and his three nephews, including Paul Ress, drove the expansion of the Balthasar Ress estate, acquiring parcels of land in prestigious sites such as the "Oestricher Doosberg" or the "Hattenheimer Engelmannsberg".

finally, in 1950, the Wilhelm Hess winery in Rüdesheim was purchased, giving Balthasar Ress access to sites such as the Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland, the Bischofsberg and the Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg.

Today, Christian Ress is the 5th generation to manage the Balthasar Ress winery. He expanded the winery to a proud 46 hectares and brought Dirk Würtz into the Balthasar Ress winery as a consultant since 2009 and as operations manager since 2011, a true lateral thinker who combines experience (former cellar master at Robert Weil) with an uncompromising commitment to quality and innovation.

Together, Ress and Würtz have not only created a remarkable portfolio of excellent estate, local and site wines, but with "Natürlich Ress" they have also created first-class natural wines that unfold an incredible complexity and yet do not lack comprehensibility.