Rheingau Producers

Balthasar Ress is a family-owned estate founded in 1870 in the Rheingau village of Hattenheim. Stephan and Christian Ress are the fourth and fifth generations and run the estate today. Balthasar Ress was a butcher and hotelier who started selling wines to his customers with the phrase “von unserm” (from ours) over 150 years ago, and it is the name of the Gutswein Riesling and Spätburgunder today. Since its founding, an outstanding collection of vineyards have been assembled including parcels within the “fountain” vineyards of Nussbrunnen and Wisselbrunnen, Berg Schlossberg, Berg Rottland in Rüdesheim, and Assmanshausen Höllenberg. A VDP member since 1989. Balthasar Ress became the largest certified organic wine estate in Hessen in 2019. Plantings consist of 90% Riesling, 10% Spätburgunder focused mainly in the villages of Hattenheim and Rüdesheim. Like other VDP estates, production is organized by origin, beginning with Gutswein and Ortswein serving as introductions to the region and villages, followed by a series of single vineyards classed as Erste Lagen and Grosse Lagen by the VDP. Not to be overlooked are the Hattenheimer sites of Engelmannsberg, Schützenhaus, and the Monopollage of Schloss Reichartshausen. All 55 hectares are certified organic, a priority pursued by Christian Ress after taking over in 2010. “I simply think it’s fundamentally wrong to produce a luxury product - and that’s what wine is - for a privileged few consumers at the expense of the general public’s natural resources,” says Christian. Stephan Sänger oversees the Balthasar Ress cellar and explains that the grape harvest is mostly by hand. “In the vineyards where machine harvesting is possible, we make sure that a selection is made beforehand by our hand pickers so that we only harvest the healthy and physiologically ripe grapes with the machine.” Fermentations are spontaneous for the single vineyards and typically inoculated for the Gutsweine and Ortsweine. The wines receive extended aging on the fine lees, which remain suspended to protect from oxidation, thereby keeping the addition of SO2 to a minimum. Gutsweine typically ages in stainless steel tanks, while single vineyards age in oak. The historic family crest with the roughly century-old maxim by Balthasar Ress holds steady: “Fein Sei Der Wein!” (Fine Be The Wine!).