Wittmann

Wittmann Estate - Tradition in Westhofen

The Wittmann family has been active in viticulture in the village of Westhofen in Rheinhessen since the 17th century. The family can look back on 15 generations and around 350 vintages of experience in winegrowing. Their own bottling has been taking place since 1921. Today the estate is run by father Günter, his wife Elisabeth, son Philipp and his wife. At the winery, Philipp serves as cellar master, oenologist, and from 2005 to 2019 he also served on the board of VDP Rheinhessen.

Terroir and sites of Wittmann

Westhofen is a winemaking village through and through, with almost 790 hectares of vineyards surrounding the town, part of which is cultivated by the Wittmann family. The terroir is quite diverse, with soils of clay marl, loess, loam and weathered limestone.

Today Wittmann can draw on four major sites:

• Brunnenhäuschen
• Aulerde
• Morstein
• Kirchspiel

All of these are located within the premier site of Westhofen, with the premier site of Gundersheim adjoining as a neighbor.

Brunnenhäuschen

A south-facing site in which ripening, however, sets in late. It lies at an elevation of 240 m above sea level and is exposed to a cool westerly wind, which explains the delay. Clay marl and limestone dominate the soils, with portions of terra rossa, which gets its name from the high iron oxide content with its characteristic red color. This gives the Rieslings from this site a creamy minerality.

Aulerde

Also south-facing, towards the village. First mentioned in 1380, it is one of the oldest sites. In contrast to Brunnenhäuschen, this site is very warm and the grapes ripen early here. It is planted mainly with Riesling, which grows on gravelly clay sand. The vines can be up to seventy years old, and planting density is very high.

Morstein

The oldest single vineyard in Westhofen (first mentioned in 1282). The slope, with a gradient of 20%, is dominated by clay marl soils and limestone deposits. Digging deeper, one encounters a layer of limestone rock that carries water and thus ensures very good supply of nutrients and minerals to the vines.

Kirchspiel

This site opens towards the Rhine and has an east-southeast exposure. Thus it is protected from the westerly winds that dominate Brunnenhäuschen and creates a beneficial microclimate for the vines. The site has a 30% slope and clay marl-limestone soils with loam from weathered limestone. The wines from this site are therefore spicy and elegant.

Biodynamics at Wittmann

The Wittmann family decided as early as 1990 to convert their viticulture to organic farming, making them pioneers in Germany. In 2004 the next step towards biodynamic farming followed. The focus is not only on resource-conserving working methods; the entire operation is run as a closed cycle in order to keep the impact on nature as low as possible. For example, the Wittmanns produce their own fertilizer to activate the soil. Accordingly, only hand harvesting is used in the vineyard.

In the estate’s cellar

After harvest, the grapes are sorted again and, after pressing, are moved to the cellar only by gravity. Fermentation takes place exclusively with natural yeasts. 80 wooden barrels are then ready to give the wines their final polish. The oldest dates back to 1890. Maturation takes place separately according to parcel.