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Wittmann

Philipp Wittmann testifies to a relatively relaxed 2015 harvest. Most of his parcels featured significantly higher must weights than they had in 2014, even allowing for several thousand liters of nobly sweet wines having been picked out from four of his “grand cru” sites. “Something like that is a gift of nature,” remarked Wittmann, “so we accept it. But I don’t want so much as a single botrytis berry in any of my dry wines,” he added, “and with the size and quality of picking crew I have at my disposal, that ambition can be realized.” Reflecting the aforementioned elevated must weights, along with a continued tendency to ferment down to just a few grams of residual sugar, Wittmann’s 2015s lack the alcoholic levity that I had found especially appealing in many of his 2014s. “I was concerned about ending up with too much alcohol,” he admitted, but notes that in the end, all of the wines finished shy of 13.5 percent. “I could have harvested earlier, of course,” he noted. “But I have to be guided ultimately by the aromatic evolution of the grapes, so in a year like this I have to accept a bit more alcohol.” Picking in Nierstein took place in the last days of September and in Westhofen, for the most part, within the first 10 days of October – still relatively early by the standards of Wittmann’s 16 years in charge of his family’s estate. About this vintage’s unusually high acidity, Wittmann had not the least ambivalence, finding it not only a source of vinous strength in itself, but also sharing with many of his colleagues the notion that high acidity compensates for alcohol. (To my palate, it does not.)

In addition to expanding his estate in 2014 to encompass parcels in Nierstein’s Orbel and Oelberg Einzellagen, Wittmann has also spread out closer to home, having planted an extended parcel in the Gundersheimer Höllenbrand with both Pinot Noir and Riesling. This is a site whose historic significance and microclimatic features Wittmann is convinced point toward eventual quality on a par with the Riesling of its now more famous neighbor Morstein, immediately to the east. “Give it – and me – 10 years,” he says. The first tiny crop from those Höllenbrand Riesling vines turned into an auspicious 2015 TBA, reviewed below. (For further background on this state, including an extensive discussion of Philipp Wittmann’s stylistic vision, consult the introduction to my account of his 2014s.)

From Rheinhessen and Nahe 2015: Cool Concentration from a “Warm Vintage” (Nov 2017) by David Schildknecht

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2015 Silvaner trocken

Release Price: $22

Color: White

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Wittmann

2015 Silvaner trocken

2015 Silvaner Westhofener trocken

2015 Scheurebe trocken

2015 Riesling trocken

2015 Riesling Westhofener trocken

2015 Riesling Niersteiner trocken

2015 Riesling Westhofener Aulerde Grosses Gewächs

2015 Riesling Westhofener Kirschspiel Grosses Gewächs

2015 Riesling Westhofener Brunnenhäuschen Grosses Gewächs

2015 Riesling Westhofener Morstein Grosses Gewächs

2015 Riesling La Borne Alte Reben

2015 Riesling Niersteiner Auslese

2015 Riesling Westhofener Kirchspiel Auslese

2015 Riesling Westhofener Brunnenhäuschen Auslese

2015 Riesling Westhofener Morstein Auslese

2015 Riesling Westhofener Morstein Auslese Goldkapsel

2015 Riesling Gundersheimer Höllenbrand Trockenbeerenauslese

2015 Riesling Westhofener Morstein Trockenbeerenauslese

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