Wittmann

Winery Wittmann - Tradition in Westhofen

The family Wittmann 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 about 350 vintages of experience in viticulture. Since 1921 they have been bottling their own wines. Today, the winery is run by father Günter, his wife Elisabeth, son Philipp and his wife. Philipp acts as cellar master at the winery, oenologist and also served as a board member for the VDP Rheinhessen from 2005 to 2019.

Terroir and sites of Wittmann

Westhofen is a wine-growing community through and through, so  there are almost 790 hectares of vineyards around the village, part of which are cultivated by the Wittmanns. The terroir is quite versatile, so there are soils made of clay marl, loess, loam or weathered limestone.

Today, Wittmann can fall back on four large vineyards:

• Brunnenhäuschen
• Aulerde
• Morstein
• Kirchspiel

These are all within the first vineyard Westhofen, adjacent is the first vineyard Gundersheim.

Brunnenhäuschen

A south-facing site in which ripening is late. It lies at an altitude 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 proportions of terra rossa, which gets its name from the high proportion of iron oxide with its characteristic red colour. This provides a creamy minerality in the Rieslings from this site.

Aulerde

Also facing south towards the village. First mentioned in 1380, it is one of the oldest vineyards. In contrast to the Brunnenhäuschen, this site is very warm and the grapes ripen early here. It is mainly planted with Riesling, which grows on gravelly clay sand. The age of the vines can be up to seventy years, the 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. If you dig deeper, you will find a limestone rock layer, which carries water and thus ensures a very good supply of nutrients and minerals for the vines.

Parish

This site is open to the Rhine and has an east-southeast orientation. It is therefore protected from the westerly winds that dominate the well, creating a favourable microclimate for the vines. The site has a slope of 30% and clay marl limestone soils with limestone weathered clay. As a result, the wines from this site are spicy and elegant.

Biodynamics at Wittmann

The family Wittmann decided as early as 1990 to convert their viticulture to organic farming and was thus one of the pioneers in Germany. In 2004, the next step was taken towards biodynamic farming. Not only is attention paid to resource-saving methods, but the entire economy is run as a 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 manual harvesting is used in the vineyard.

In the cellar of the winery

After the harvest, the grapes are selected again and, after being pressed, they are transported to the cellar by gravity alone. Fermentation is carried out exclusively by natural yeasts. 80 wooden barrels are then ready to give the wines their final touch. The oldest dates back to 1890, and the wines are matured separately by parcel.