Westhofener Kirchspiel Riesling Grosses Gewachs
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2032
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Pan-seared Dover sole with brown butter and capers, roasted veal sweetbreads with morel mushrooms, or aged Comté cheese.
✨ Technical Specifications
Formed like an amphitheater opening toward the Rhine, the Kirchspiel vineyard in Westhofen shields vines from prevailing westerly winds while capturing intense solar radiation. The site is defined by steep, east- to southeast-facing slopes composed of active limestone marl mingled with clay colluvium over fractured subterranean limestone. Farming adheres strictly to Demeter biodynamic standards, emphasizing low yields, hand harvesting, and rigorous sorting. In the cellar, whole bunches undergo gentle pressing followed by spontaneous ambient-yeast fermentation in traditional, neutral German oak Stück and Doppelstück casks. Extended maturation on the fine lees imparts textural depth and stability without obscuring the vineyard's hallmark saline, chalk-driven precision.
🍾 About the Producer
With ancestral roots in Westhofen documented to 1663, Weingut Wittmann stands as a monumental force in the modern renaissance of Rheinhessen viticulture. Situated in the rolling Wonnegau district, the estate encompasses prestigious VDP Grosse Lage terroirs including Morstein, Kirchspiel, Brunnenhäuschen, and Aulerde. These steep, sun-drenched parcels feature deeply layered upper limestone and clay-marl colluvium over fractured subterranean limestone bedrock, fostering remarkable minerality and tension. Guided by cellarmaster Philipp Wittmann and his wife Eva Clüsserath, alongside his pioneering parents Günter and Elisabeth, the estate spearheaded organic cultivation in 1990 before achieving full Demeter biodynamic certification in 2004. In their vaulted 1829 cellar, hand-harvested fruit undergoes gentle pressing and spontaneous native-yeast fermentation in traditional large neutral oak Stück and Doppelstück casks. Renowned for chiseled, dry Rieslings and textural Burgundian varieties, Wittmann produces cellar-worthy benchmarks defined by intense saline depth, purity of fruit, and aristocratic limestone energy.
🍇 Grapes
Riesling
🍷 ABV
12.5-13%