On Friday the 5th of February we are joined by Matthias Muller from Weingut Wittmann for the 1st edition in season 2 of our talk show “Cellar Talks”. Matthias will join us to talk about this great winery, their great wines, iconic vineyards and the Rheinhessen appellation. Weingut Wittmann has become one of the leading wineries in Germany and is a prominent member of the German VDP. The winery is also a leader in the revival that the Rheinhessen appellation has seen over the last 2 decades.
About Weingut Wittmann
Since 1663 the Wittmanns and its ancestors have been wine farmers in the town of Westhofen, in the southern part of the Rheinhessen appellation. Today Philipp Wittmann, his wife Eva and Philipp’s parents divide the tasks running the estate.
The family owns iconic and illustrious vineyards that are now know all over the world. Their four stronghold sites are; Morstein, Kirchspiel, Brunnenhauschen and Aulerde, which all have the Grand Cru (Grosse Lage) status. Next to that that own and work Premier Cru (1. Lage) sites like Westhofen, Nierstein and Gundersheim.
Riesling is the dominant grape of choice but also the Pinot varietals (Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris) and Silvaner have a long tradition in Westhofen. For more than twenty years their vineyards have been organically cultivated. The vines root deep in the living system of the soil which strengthens the expression of vineyard character, or terroir, in our wines. Intensive hand craftsmanship in the tending of the vineyards serves the goal of achieving the highest possible grape quality.
Only the very best wines bear the names of the top sites of Westhofen. The soils in these sites are mainly marl interspersed with limestone. The carefully pressed must fermented by the natural yeasts in wooden casks in our large vaulted cellars. The slow fermentation and maturation in the constantly cool cellar conserves the natural aromas.
Thus the Wittmann wines come to have their own expression which is at once unmistakable and new every year. This is recognized by leading critics like Robert Parker and James Suckling with top scores every year (even some 100/100 scores as of recent).
About Matthias Muller
Matthias started studying Viticulture and Enology in Geisenheim, Germany in 2011 after studying economics at the University of Cologne. While studying in Geisenheim he did several internships as a cellar hand in Burgundy (Domaine Jacque Prieur) and South Africa (Paul Cluver Estate) and at Wittmann.
After his internship at Wittmann he partially moved from working in the cellar to a new role as Export Manager for the estate. After two years of working at Wittmann and he decided to go back to University and got his degree as a Master of Science Enology. From 2018 on Matthias is the Director of Sales for the whole Wittmann and Cluesserath Estate (the winery owned by Phillip Wittmann’s wife Eva Cluesserath).
We are looking forward to talking to Matthias and learning from his background, experiences and Weingut Wittmann. Be sure to tune in on Instagram Live through our Dutch Wine Apprentice account on Friday the 5th of February, 19:30h CET.
Click here for instructions on how to follow a live show on Instagram Live. If you have questions for our guest you are welcome to prepare them and e-mail them to us or send them as a direct message on our Instagram account.
You can find a link to the recording of the show here.
