2022 Weingut Wittmann Westhofen Aulerde Riesling Trocken Grosses Gewächs BIO
| Type of Wine | White |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Region | |
| Winery | |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Grape | |
| Content (Alc) | 0.75 ltr (12.5%) |
| Drink window | 2027 - 2040 |
Low Stock
Only 2 left
Description
VDP Grosse Lage is the denominator for the very best German vineyards, which are precisely defined per plot. Unique wines with a special expression of the specific plot, a mature character and great maturing potential are born here. Only the very best grape varieties specifically suited to the vineyard enjoy the privilege of being planted for this purpose. The strictest possible production criteria guarantee the top of the VDP qualification pyramid. The Grosse Lage Morstein is located on a pure, southern slope that extends to a plateau of 280 meters above sea level, and is also the oldest 'single vineyard' in Westhofen (1282). In the middle of the slope, between 180 - 240 meters above sea level, lies the VDP Grosse Lage Morstein with a slope of 20%. The soil consists of heavy Tonmergel soils with limestone deposits in the upper layer. The subsoil is dominated by water-retaining limestone rock layers, which guarantee an optimal supply of nutrients and minerals.
Wittmann's Aulerde GG is deep, intense and stony with a typical GG Riesling iodine nose. Considering that the first written mention of this vineyard dates back to 1380, it seems that our predecessors long ago recognized how sublime this south-facing hillside really is. It slopes gently towards the village and is the warmest place. It promotes the early ripening of the grapes. The Riesling vines grow in the heart of Aulerde, where heavy clayey marl soil is interspersed with loess loam and limestone and the subsoil is acidified with yellow and sandy clay loam with gravel. The vines at this location are almost 70 years old and planted in high density.
Weingut Wittmann is located in Westhofen in the Rheinhessen wine region and produces biodynamic wines with terroir expression and extreme precision. The Wittmanns and their ancestors have been wine growers in Westhofen since the 17th century. The experience of some 350 vintages from more than 15 generations has contributed greatly to the family's invaluable heritage. Time and rest are essential ingredients for making a good wine. And this is exactly what the wines get plenty of in the vaulted cellar, built in 1829. Winemaker Philipp Wittmann watches over his wines, under constant temperature and humidity conditions, while they mature in 80 wooden barrels. The oldest of these barrels is from the year 1890 and has already housed many major vintages. Each barrel contains the harvest from 1 single vineyard plot.
Specifications
| Type of Wine | White |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Region | Rheinhessen |
| Winery | Weingut Wittmann |
| Grape | Riesling |
| Biological certified | Yes |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Drinking as of | 2027 |
| Drinking till | 2040 |
| Alcohol % | 12.5 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | No |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Parker rating | 94 |
| James Suckling rating | 96 |
| Vinous rating | 93 |
| Tasting Profiles | Aromatisch, Bloemig, Complex, Droog, Fris, Fruitig, Mineraal, Strak, Wit fruit |
| Drink moments | Indruk maken, Lekker luxe |
Professional Reviews
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 94
Reviewed by: Stephan Reinhardt
Drink Date: 2027 - 2040
Wittmann's 2022 Aulerde Westhofen Riesling GG is super clear, refined and elegant on the deep and pure nose that is also intense due to fruit from old vines that were planted in 1949 and 1959. It's slightly reductive but attractively so and intermingled with discreet yeasty and mocha notes. On the palate, this is a very pure and mineral, firmly structured Riesling with concentration and power yet still a somewhat astringent finish. 12.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in July 2023.
Old vines in particular withstood the summer drought of the 2022 vintage, reports Philipp Wittmann, who removed all fruit from all plants under five years old. Vine age was also a decisive selection criterion during the harvest, as old roots reach so deep that they can reach the water reserves in the soil. This kept the vines vital, "and you could see that very clearly during the harvest," says Wittmann. In the old vineyards, the must weights were 10° Oechsle higher than in the poorer and younger vineyards. The maxim was to produce wines with finesse and elegance despite the heat and dryness, at least as much as possible. This naturally resulted in self-imposed losses in quantity, for example in Nierstein, where Wittmann was only able to harvest 28 hectoliters from 1.2 hectares of vines. "In extremely dry conditions, yields have to remain low, so we kept cutting grapes where necessary. You have to recognize the differences in the vineyard and adapt your measures accordingly. Blanket solutions would often have been the wrong ones."
In order not to lose freshness, finesse and elegance in 2022, Wittmann dispensed with maceration times and instead gently crushed the grapes or processed some of them as whole grapes in the closed, barely rotating tank press at low pressure, at most after a short standing time. This resulted in musts rich in finesse, which proved particularly successful with the Pinot wines, which Wittmann is getting better and better at, including in 2022. The Chardonnay, Pinot Banc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir were harvested on 10 consecutive days right at the beginning in "extremely dry" weather. "Without any over-ripening," as Wittmann emphasizes.
Then came the first rainfall, the effect of which could not initially be seen in the vineyards, dry as they were. There were no extreme rainfalls anyway, and when it did rain, the water dried up quickly. Careful canopy management had also ensured this. At most, the harvest had to be paused for three days or used for negative pre-selections. After that, however, things continued "relaxed," says Wittmann. "The harvest weather was great and the grapes were perfectly healthy."
The Rieslings were harvested in a good two and a half weeks from mid-September. Three Auslese wines followed in early October, and the 2022 harvest was completed on October 8.
The domaine's average yield was an extremely moderate 40 hectoliters per hectare and delivered "very good qualities." The Gutswein Riesling and the GGs lacked 25% of the potential yield due to early negative selections.
The musts of the vintage fermented well, and the wines bottled this summer are balanced and rich in finesse and, above all, rich in aroma. Overall, Wittmann has once again succeeded in producing a great collection, with the complex yet accessible Morstein GG at the top.
Published: Dec 29, 2023
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James Suckling
WITTMANN RIESLING RHEINHESSEN AULERDE GG 2022
Monday, November 13, 2023
Country : Germany
Region : Rheinhessen
Vintage : 2022
Score : 96
All the spices of the bazaar are married to generous yet fresh exotic fruit. Only medium-bodied for a site that leans more towards the rich and full-bodied direction. And after the tsunami of fresh fruit comes a second wave of staggeringly fresh minerality. Great vitality right to the end of the long, super-straight road. From biodynamically grown grapes with Respekt certification. Drink or hold.
Stuart Pigott
Senior Editor
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Vinous
93
Drinking Window
2028 - 2050
From: 2022 Rheinhessen & Nahe: Rain in the Nick of Time (Sep 2023)
The 2022 Riesling Westhofener Aulerde Grosses Gewächs is made from the estate's oldest vines, planted in 1949 at an unusual density of 8,000 vines/ha in the rich marls of Aulerde. The vineyard still cannot be navigated by tractor in its narrow rows. The nose is vivid and direct with lifted lemon and flinty yeast. With air, the lemon attains all the richness of the ripest Amalfi lemon. The palate is concentrated but very fluid, compact, streamlined and rounded. Lemon freshness tingles around the edges as the wine transports you deeper and deeper into the soil. Phenolics lend structure to relative richness. The 2022 is concentrated, pure and shows subtle length. (Bone-dry)
- By Anne Krebiehl MW on June 2023
Philipp Wittmann now farms 35 hectares in and around Westhofen, 75% of these are planted to Riesling; the next important variety is Weissburgunder/Pinot Blanc. Wittmann also buys grapes to make wines for his 100 Hills brand. His parents were early adopters of organic methods, and when Philipp returned from studies in Geisenheim, he trialed biodynamic methods and implemented them entirely in 2004. He took the reins of the estate in 2007 when it still had around 20 hectares of vines. As a leading light of the ‘Message in a Bottle’ movement founded in 2001 to raise the profile of Rheinhessen wine, Wittmann helped to put critical sites on the map, above all the Westhofener Morstein, a limestone site with a slight clay-marl cover which makes his two most famous wines today. His other sites are Aulerde, Kirchspiel and Brunnenhäuschen – all are on Tertiary limestone. Not that these sites were not well-known before – but they had been all but forgotten by the mid-to-late 20th century. Today, Wittmann notes a shift of Riesling to more elevated sites like the Gundersheimer Höllenbrand – and he counts himself lucky to have sites with water-retentive clay and marl topsoils. While his top wines get showered with accolades, he is careful to stress the importance he places on his Riesling trocken: “I deliberately avoid the term estate wine /Gutswein because I no longer see this hierarchy. It misses out on the thought of provenance. It is important that this wine reflects what we do at the top in a more subdued form. I want this to be the fingerprint of the Westhofen sites, plus my fingerprint, but we work this in the same way as the top wines; it just is fruit from different vineyards.” All the Rieslings are made similarly: “We normally crush the grapes slightly and macerate a little, depending on ripeness. In years like 2022, I am very careful with that and include whole berries,” he explains. The musts are clarified by settling for a few hours and go into large barrels relatively cloudy. Everything is fermented spontaneously. Fermentation takes four to six weeks, and since he wants to ferment to dryness, which here means less than 3g/L, he does not mind top temperatures of between 20°-25°C. Wittmann remarks that he does not aim to capture fruit flavors with cool ferments. The wines remain on their gross lees. Estate wines are blended and bottled in April/May. Anything above is either racked or stays on gross lees in barrel until late summer. Wines made from Pinot varieties are racked off gross lees to spend a second year in barrel. These profound, precise wines show the intention to express site and limestone with a real citrus focus. Wittmann’s auction wine, La Borne, is by now rather famous: made from a parcel in the upper part of the Morstein, acquired in the 2000s and first vinified separately in 2009. Its name refers to the parcel’s location along a former district boundary marked by a stone, borne in French, harking back to the time when all of Rheinhessen was a French département under Napoleon.
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Wijnhuis
Located in Westhofen in the Rheinhessen wine region, Weingut Wittmann produces biodynamic wines with terroir expression and extreme precision. The Wittmanns and their ancestors have been wine growers in Westhofen since the 17th century. The experience of some 350 volumes of more than 15 generations is great in the priceless heritage of the family. Time and rest are essential ingredients for making a good wine. And this is exactly what the wines get in abundance in the vaulted cellar, built in 1829. Winemaker Philipp Wittmann watches over his wines, under constant temperature and humidity conditions, while maturing in 80 wooden barrels. The oldest of these barrels is from the year 1890 and has already housed many great vintages. Each barrel contains the harvest of 1 single vineyard plot.
Star winemaker Philipp Wittmann (responsible for the cellar and export), together with father Günther (vineyards) and mother Elisabeth (sales), have built a fantastic wine company in Westhofen, Rheinhessen. Since 1990, work has been done biologically and later biologically dynamically. The starting point for the wines is therefore: terroir expression through healthy soil. A low yield per hectare, manual selection of the best grapes and a very slow vinification with natural yeasts without the addition of sulfite on large wooden feeds do the rest. The house is 'the standard' for Rheinhessen and now also a standard for German white in general. This is evident from the enormous flow of international valuations that the wines receive, both higher and lower. For example, Philipp has already twice been named the best white winemaker in Germany by the authoritative Eichelmann in 2003 and 2013. In 2014 he received the same title from Gault Millau. Philipp is married to Eva Clüsserath who owns her own wine estate in the Moselle. Philipp is said to hate August: he has to divide his Grosse Gewächse. This is especially annoying because the demand is increasing and the supply is small. So he actually has too little for everyone. Not surprising, given that his GGs earn up to 96 points from Parker, he was crowned Germany's best white winemaker twice by Eichelmann, winemaker of the year at Gault Millau in 2014, and at Schlemmer Atlas in 2015 and annually in Mainz during the GG tasting as one of the very best!
Wittmann has consistently opted for quality, which means that he only releases the finest fruit from his vineyards as GG. The rest goes in the Westhofener and even the Riesling Trocken is partly made with this noble fruit.
VDP Grosse Lage is the denominator for the very best German vineyards, which are precisely defined per plot. Unique wines with a special expression of the specific plot, a mature character and great maturing potential are born here. Only the very best grape varieties specifically suited to the vineyard enjoy the privilege of being planted for this purpose. The strictest possible production criteria guarantee the top of the VDP qualification pyramid. The Grosse Lage Morstein is located on a pure, southern slope that extends to a plateau of 280 meters above sea level, and is also the oldest 'single vineyard' in Westhofen (1282). In the middle of the slope, between 180 - 240 meters above sea level, lies the VDP Grosse Lage Morstein with a slope of 20%. The soil consists of heavy Tonmergel soils with limestone deposits in the upper layer. The subsoil is dominated by water-retaining limestone rock layers, which guarantee an optimal supply of nutrients and minerals.
Wittmann's Aulerde GG is deep, intense and stony with a typical GG Riesling iodine nose. Considering that the first written mention of this vineyard dates back to 1380, it seems that our predecessors long ago recognized how sublime this south-facing hillside really is. It slopes gently towards the village and is the warmest place. It promotes the early ripening of the grapes. The Riesling vines grow in the heart of Aulerde, where heavy clayey marl soil is interspersed with loess loam and limestone and the subsoil is acidified with yellow and sandy clay loam with gravel. The vines at this location are almost 70 years old and planted in high density.
Weingut Wittmann is located in Westhofen in the Rheinhessen wine region and produces biodynamic wines with terroir expression and extreme precision. The Wittmanns and their ancestors have been wine growers in Westhofen since the 17th century. The experience of some 350 vintages from more than 15 generations has contributed greatly to the family's invaluable heritage. Time and rest are essential ingredients for making a good wine. And this is exactly what the wines get plenty of in the vaulted cellar, built in 1829. Winemaker Philipp Wittmann watches over his wines, under constant temperature and humidity conditions, while they mature in 80 wooden barrels. The oldest of these barrels is from the year 1890 and has already housed many major vintages. Each barrel contains the harvest from 1 single vineyard plot.
| Type of Wine | White |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Region | Rheinhessen |
| Winery | Weingut Wittmann |
| Grape | Riesling |
| Biological certified | Yes |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Drinking as of | 2027 |
| Drinking till | 2040 |
| Alcohol % | 12.5 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | No |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Parker rating | 94 |
| James Suckling rating | 96 |
| Vinous rating | 93 |
| Tasting Profiles | Aromatisch, Bloemig, Complex, Droog, Fris, Fruitig, Mineraal, Strak, Wit fruit |
| Drink moments | Indruk maken, Lekker luxe |
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 94
Reviewed by: Stephan Reinhardt
Drink Date: 2027 - 2040
Wittmann's 2022 Aulerde Westhofen Riesling GG is super clear, refined and elegant on the deep and pure nose that is also intense due to fruit from old vines that were planted in 1949 and 1959. It's slightly reductive but attractively so and intermingled with discreet yeasty and mocha notes. On the palate, this is a very pure and mineral, firmly structured Riesling with concentration and power yet still a somewhat astringent finish. 12.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in July 2023.
Old vines in particular withstood the summer drought of the 2022 vintage, reports Philipp Wittmann, who removed all fruit from all plants under five years old. Vine age was also a decisive selection criterion during the harvest, as old roots reach so deep that they can reach the water reserves in the soil. This kept the vines vital, "and you could see that very clearly during the harvest," says Wittmann. In the old vineyards, the must weights were 10° Oechsle higher than in the poorer and younger vineyards. The maxim was to produce wines with finesse and elegance despite the heat and dryness, at least as much as possible. This naturally resulted in self-imposed losses in quantity, for example in Nierstein, where Wittmann was only able to harvest 28 hectoliters from 1.2 hectares of vines. "In extremely dry conditions, yields have to remain low, so we kept cutting grapes where necessary. You have to recognize the differences in the vineyard and adapt your measures accordingly. Blanket solutions would often have been the wrong ones."
In order not to lose freshness, finesse and elegance in 2022, Wittmann dispensed with maceration times and instead gently crushed the grapes or processed some of them as whole grapes in the closed, barely rotating tank press at low pressure, at most after a short standing time. This resulted in musts rich in finesse, which proved particularly successful with the Pinot wines, which Wittmann is getting better and better at, including in 2022. The Chardonnay, Pinot Banc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir were harvested on 10 consecutive days right at the beginning in "extremely dry" weather. "Without any over-ripening," as Wittmann emphasizes.
Then came the first rainfall, the effect of which could not initially be seen in the vineyards, dry as they were. There were no extreme rainfalls anyway, and when it did rain, the water dried up quickly. Careful canopy management had also ensured this. At most, the harvest had to be paused for three days or used for negative pre-selections. After that, however, things continued "relaxed," says Wittmann. "The harvest weather was great and the grapes were perfectly healthy."
The Rieslings were harvested in a good two and a half weeks from mid-September. Three Auslese wines followed in early October, and the 2022 harvest was completed on October 8.
The domaine's average yield was an extremely moderate 40 hectoliters per hectare and delivered "very good qualities." The Gutswein Riesling and the GGs lacked 25% of the potential yield due to early negative selections.
The musts of the vintage fermented well, and the wines bottled this summer are balanced and rich in finesse and, above all, rich in aroma. Overall, Wittmann has once again succeeded in producing a great collection, with the complex yet accessible Morstein GG at the top.
Published: Dec 29, 2023
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
James Suckling
WITTMANN RIESLING RHEINHESSEN AULERDE GG 2022
Monday, November 13, 2023
Country : Germany
Region : Rheinhessen
Vintage : 2022
Score : 96
All the spices of the bazaar are married to generous yet fresh exotic fruit. Only medium-bodied for a site that leans more towards the rich and full-bodied direction. And after the tsunami of fresh fruit comes a second wave of staggeringly fresh minerality. Great vitality right to the end of the long, super-straight road. From biodynamically grown grapes with Respekt certification. Drink or hold.
Stuart Pigott
Senior Editor
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Vinous
93
Drinking Window
2028 - 2050
From: 2022 Rheinhessen & Nahe: Rain in the Nick of Time (Sep 2023)
The 2022 Riesling Westhofener Aulerde Grosses Gewächs is made from the estate's oldest vines, planted in 1949 at an unusual density of 8,000 vines/ha in the rich marls of Aulerde. The vineyard still cannot be navigated by tractor in its narrow rows. The nose is vivid and direct with lifted lemon and flinty yeast. With air, the lemon attains all the richness of the ripest Amalfi lemon. The palate is concentrated but very fluid, compact, streamlined and rounded. Lemon freshness tingles around the edges as the wine transports you deeper and deeper into the soil. Phenolics lend structure to relative richness. The 2022 is concentrated, pure and shows subtle length. (Bone-dry)
- By Anne Krebiehl MW on June 2023
Philipp Wittmann now farms 35 hectares in and around Westhofen, 75% of these are planted to Riesling; the next important variety is Weissburgunder/Pinot Blanc. Wittmann also buys grapes to make wines for his 100 Hills brand. His parents were early adopters of organic methods, and when Philipp returned from studies in Geisenheim, he trialed biodynamic methods and implemented them entirely in 2004. He took the reins of the estate in 2007 when it still had around 20 hectares of vines. As a leading light of the ‘Message in a Bottle’ movement founded in 2001 to raise the profile of Rheinhessen wine, Wittmann helped to put critical sites on the map, above all the Westhofener Morstein, a limestone site with a slight clay-marl cover which makes his two most famous wines today. His other sites are Aulerde, Kirchspiel and Brunnenhäuschen – all are on Tertiary limestone. Not that these sites were not well-known before – but they had been all but forgotten by the mid-to-late 20th century. Today, Wittmann notes a shift of Riesling to more elevated sites like the Gundersheimer Höllenbrand – and he counts himself lucky to have sites with water-retentive clay and marl topsoils. While his top wines get showered with accolades, he is careful to stress the importance he places on his Riesling trocken: “I deliberately avoid the term estate wine /Gutswein because I no longer see this hierarchy. It misses out on the thought of provenance. It is important that this wine reflects what we do at the top in a more subdued form. I want this to be the fingerprint of the Westhofen sites, plus my fingerprint, but we work this in the same way as the top wines; it just is fruit from different vineyards.” All the Rieslings are made similarly: “We normally crush the grapes slightly and macerate a little, depending on ripeness. In years like 2022, I am very careful with that and include whole berries,” he explains. The musts are clarified by settling for a few hours and go into large barrels relatively cloudy. Everything is fermented spontaneously. Fermentation takes four to six weeks, and since he wants to ferment to dryness, which here means less than 3g/L, he does not mind top temperatures of between 20°-25°C. Wittmann remarks that he does not aim to capture fruit flavors with cool ferments. The wines remain on their gross lees. Estate wines are blended and bottled in April/May. Anything above is either racked or stays on gross lees in barrel until late summer. Wines made from Pinot varieties are racked off gross lees to spend a second year in barrel. These profound, precise wines show the intention to express site and limestone with a real citrus focus. Wittmann’s auction wine, La Borne, is by now rather famous: made from a parcel in the upper part of the Morstein, acquired in the 2000s and first vinified separately in 2009. Its name refers to the parcel’s location along a former district boundary marked by a stone, borne in French, harking back to the time when all of Rheinhessen was a French département under Napoleon.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Exclusive Content
Sign in to unlock professional wine reviews from world-renowned critics
Located in Westhofen in the Rheinhessen wine region, Weingut Wittmann produces biodynamic wines with terroir expression and extreme precision. The Wittmanns and their ancestors have been wine growers in Westhofen since the 17th century. The experience of some 350 volumes of more than 15 generations is great in the priceless heritage of the family. Time and rest are essential ingredients for making a good wine. And this is exactly what the wines get in abundance in the vaulted cellar, built in 1829. Winemaker Philipp Wittmann watches over his wines, under constant temperature and humidity conditions, while maturing in 80 wooden barrels. The oldest of these barrels is from the year 1890 and has already housed many great vintages. Each barrel contains the harvest of 1 single vineyard plot.
Star winemaker Philipp Wittmann (responsible for the cellar and export), together with father Günther (vineyards) and mother Elisabeth (sales), have built a fantastic wine company in Westhofen, Rheinhessen. Since 1990, work has been done biologically and later biologically dynamically. The starting point for the wines is therefore: terroir expression through healthy soil. A low yield per hectare, manual selection of the best grapes and a very slow vinification with natural yeasts without the addition of sulfite on large wooden feeds do the rest. The house is 'the standard' for Rheinhessen and now also a standard for German white in general. This is evident from the enormous flow of international valuations that the wines receive, both higher and lower. For example, Philipp has already twice been named the best white winemaker in Germany by the authoritative Eichelmann in 2003 and 2013. In 2014 he received the same title from Gault Millau. Philipp is married to Eva Clüsserath who owns her own wine estate in the Moselle. Philipp is said to hate August: he has to divide his Grosse Gewächse. This is especially annoying because the demand is increasing and the supply is small. So he actually has too little for everyone. Not surprising, given that his GGs earn up to 96 points from Parker, he was crowned Germany's best white winemaker twice by Eichelmann, winemaker of the year at Gault Millau in 2014, and at Schlemmer Atlas in 2015 and annually in Mainz during the GG tasting as one of the very best!
Wittmann has consistently opted for quality, which means that he only releases the finest fruit from his vineyards as GG. The rest goes in the Westhofener and even the Riesling Trocken is partly made with this noble fruit.