The world of wine is complex and shaped by history and local traditions. However, this does not mean it is static or backward looking. Even after many centuries, the art of winemaking is still evolving and improving. We owe this progress to courageous and curious individuals like Dom Perignon who have pushed the boundaries of what is possible to create better wines.
Today, every wine growing region has winemakers who have changed our perception of wine with their skill, patience and pioneering spirit. Out of the many excellent winemakers Rheinhessen has to offer, we have picked two relentlessly ambitious wineries who embody our motto “a world of excellence” so perfectly and who have made Rheinhessen famous.
Dreissigacker winery
Jochen Dreißigacker has many reason to be happy. As one of Rheinhessens top winemakers, he has elevated the region to international fame.
“Not everybody’s darling” is how Jochen Dreissigacker likes to call his wines. Instead of following trends, he has carved his own path in winemaking. International acclaim and rising sales prove him right.
Mr. Dreissigacker has produced complex wines with a great depth of flavour ever since he took over his parent’s winery in Bechtheim, Rheinhessen in 2005. The most important ingredient for a Dreissigacker wine is intuition, he says. Instead of reproducing a common and successful style of wine, he wanted to maximize the impact of terroir and site to produce the best wines possible.
Dreissigacker is passionate about Riesling and working relentlessly to capture the grapes’ ability to turn any terroir into a unique wine, while also exploiting the variety’s excellent aging capability. The results are stellar and unconventional white wines with a large spectrum of flavours that age very well.
Another aspect that sets Dreissigacker wines apart from his competitors is Jochen’s interest in advanced wine and food pairing. For this, he is working closely with renowned chefs such as Tim Raue in order to provide the best wine-food combo possible. “Food and wine not just match; they complement and elevate each other” Dreissigacker explains. Many excellent chefs around the world have noticed this and introduced Dreissigacker wines in their restaurants.
Jochen Dreissigacker has always been curious to try new approaches to winemaking. As a reward, he has moved the Rheinhessen wine industry forward with his ambition to stand out from the masses, his effort to turn terroir into unique wines and his holistic approach to wine and food pairing.
Weingut Thoerle
Today, Christoph and Johannes Thoerle are running the winery very successfully.
Another all-Rheinhessian success story is the Thoerle winery in Saulheim. The family winery has a long history dating back to the 17th century. Until the 1980s the family was running a diversified farm with cattle breeding and several crops besides vines. It was in the year of 1985 when Rudolf and Uta Thoerle made the brave decision to focus exclusively on high-quality wines. Their sons Johannes and Christoph joined them in the next years and are running the winery today.
From the beginning, the Thoerles innovated and explored new approaches to winemaking. One of the first decisions was to bring up the quality. Under the watchful eyes of their neighbours, they started cutting excess grapes in summer to reduce the yield. This meant fewer grapes per vine and thus higher quality juice. The result was a much more intense and broadly flavoured wine. The word of the new premium wines from Saulheim spread quickly and the scepticism of the neighbours turned into imitation. Although the Thoerles increased the prices per bottle, the sales continued to rise. Emboldened by this success, the Thoerles expanded and bought additional vineyards. Today the family owns 19 hectares of pristine vineyards in the hills around Saulheim.
Domestically Thoerle is famous for their high-quality Rieslings, yet internationally it’s the red wines that get all the attention. In 2011, the German Wine Institute organized a wine tasting in London featuring Thoerle wines. In this “Judgement of London” category of Pinot Noir, the Thoerle wine won against contesters from North America, South Africa and Australia, reaching the second place in this category.
The Thoerle winery is another stellar example of innovation and pioneer spirit from Rheinhessen. Focussing unapologetically on quality and innovation, the Thoerle family has brought international fame to Rheinhessen and its vineyards.
Conclusion
Jochen Dreissigacker and the Thoerle family have successfully re-written the rules of winemaking in Rheinhessen with their unapologetic commitment to quality and innovation. Today, they stand tall as international ambassadors of Rheinhessen wine.
Further information:
Learn more about Mainz | Rheinhessen Great Wine Capital
Dreissigacker
Thoerle