Philipp Wittmann took the helm of his family's estate in 1999 and it is without a doubt one of the most impressive estates in the Rheinhessen. Strangely, while Wittmann has a monster reputation in Germany, they are all but unknown in America. They are, like Klaus-Peter Keller, dry Riesling specialists - 90% of their production, in fact, is dry Riesling. Here Philipp Wittmann stands in one of the cellars of the estate. As you can tell, old wooden casks are used widely.
Philipp Wittmann was kind enough to open two 2007 great dry Rieslings as well... tough work, but somebody has to do it, right?
Driving through the Morstein vineyard. If you're used to the scale of Mosel vineyards, you'll have to adjust your thinking slightly. The entire Morstein vineyard is nearly 100 hectares, though the site is by no means uniform and less than a third of the site is considered "Grand Cru" in quality - only about 30 hectares. Of this Grand Cru, Wittmann ownes about 5.5 hectares."
The Wittmann cellars are *seriously* cool. There are some amazing old barrels in this place...
I've seen a good amount of cool barrels, but this gets the prize. Still used by Wittmann - built in 1892 and check out the busty mermaid at the bottom.
At Wittmann in the Rheinhessen. A tough day at the office.
The Wittmann's are big modern art collectors - there's art all over the place. A Donald Bachelor in the tasting room. I've never understood his work, but there you go.