Weingut Wittmann, the Westhofen estate that has done more than almost any other to prove German dry Riesling belongs among the world's great white wines. First documented in 1663 as a leasehold of the Electoral Palatine, the family has farmed in the Wonnegau district of southern Rheinhessen for over 350 years, bottling under its own name since 1921.

The estate farms around 28 hectares exclusively within the commune of Westhofen, certified organic since 1990 and Demeter biodynamic since 2004, among the earliest conversions of its kind in Germany. Riesling accounts for roughly 65% of plantings, drawn primarily from four VDP Grosse Lage sites: Aulerde, Kirchspiel, Brunnenhäuschen and Morstein, the last first documented in 1282 and the oldest named vineyard in Westhofen. Grapes are hand-harvested and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in large traditional oak casks, in a vaulted cellar dating to 1829.

Under Philipp Wittmann, the fifteenth generation and now Vice-President of the VDP nationally, the estate has become, alongside Klaus-Peter Keller, the defining reference point for dry Riesling in Rheinhessen: wines built on purity, tension and an unmistakable limestone signature.

A cooler, classic year in the Rheinhessen.

2024 was a late-ripening, cooler season in Westhofen, and it shows across the range: wines with more citrus drive and less of the yellow-fruited generosity of 2023, carried by a brighter, more animated acidity and alcohols running around half a percent lower than recent vintages. Philipp Wittmann has likened the year to 2002, another season defined by good water reserves and grapes that ripened slowly rather than quickly, building flavour without excess weight. The result across the 2024 Grosse Lage Rieslings is a more purist, limestone-driven style: taut, saline and built for the long haul, with the freshness and precision that Wittmann's best vintages are known for.