Morstein: The New Grand Cru of the Rhine
Situated in the wine region of Rheinhessen in Germany, the Morstein vineyard site in Westhofen has achieved cult status since the last turn of the century by playing a key role in the paradigm shift for German wines from sweet to dry wines. Today, the Morstein has garnered international attention for producing dry white wines of great complexity and restrained power.
When we talk about game-changing new German wines, the Morstein GG dry riesling immediately comes to mind. The man behind this celebrated wine is Philipp Wittmann, owner and winemaker of the Wittmann estate in Westhofen. This remarkable dry white wine transformed the image of Rheinhessen from a region long associated with cheap and sweet Liebfraumilch into a dream factory of German dry whites. For domestic consumers, Rheinhessen is now the coolest wine region of the nation’s 13, and the sales of its dry riesling and grauburgunder — pinot gris/grigio in German — are booming.
Located on a slope that stretches from Gundersheim to Westhofen, the Morstein vineyard faces South, and its soils are dominated by limestone rocks.
What has enabled Wittmann’s Morstein to achieve all that? Although this Morstein GG dry riesling usually weighs in at 12.5% to 13% alcohol, it is exceptionally bold and deep for a dry riesling. Imbued with ripe peach and apricot aromas — typical attributes from the site — the wine always has a chalky minerality at the long finish, which resembles a top white burgundy. And in very ripe vintages, the wine’s nose stretches to tropical fruits such as mangos and pineapple. Rated 98 points, the 2016 Morstein GG was one of our top-scoring dry German rieslings from this excellent vintage. The production of Wittmann’s flagship wine averages 12,000 bottles per year, enabling wide international distribution. “For me, it’s a matter of the heart, my favorite vineyard, pure emotion,” Philipp Wittmann said.
When Philipp Wittmann released his first solo Morstein, the great 2001 vintage — the previous three vintages were made with his father Günter — he pushed the long-forgotten Westhofen into the spotlight, making this one of the great turning points in German winemaking. In many ways, the Morstein site is typical for a new German “grand cru”. The soil is clay-marl over limestone cliffs, which means the soil is much closer to that of the Grand Cru Montrachet than to the slate of the Mosel Valley. Although the Morstein vineyard has an inclination of 20 to 25% —less than half that of the other top sites on the Mosel — the soil is only 20 centimeters deep in some places, and the maximum depth is only 1.5 meters. Due to the altitude of 180 to 240 meters above sea level, the site is best described as a cool corner in a rather warm region. This unique terroir and microclimate lead to a healthy acidity content, which helps explain the restrained power in Morstein dry rieslings, preventing the wine from ever tasting heavy.
Despite the fact that the Morstein site is approximately 150 hectares in extent, only the best 26.04 hectares are classified for GG production by the elite German producers’ association named Verband Deutscher Pradikatsweinguter (VDP). On top of that, strict rules are imposed on GG production, and all the wines must also pass a blind tasting test before bottling.
The vertical tasting of Morstein GG, showcasing a variety of vintages.
Wittmann opened a vertical of the last 10 vintages of his Morstein GG, as well as the 2005 and 2001 vintages, exclusively for JamesSuckling.com. The wines showed remarkable consistency, and even the lowest-rated wine scored 92 points. Rich but rather untypical, the 2010 vintage was still a pleasure to taste. On the other hand, the vintages 2001, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017 all rated 95 points or higher — the kind of scores you’d expect from a Grand Cru Montrachet. So far, only insiders scattered around Planet Wine are aware that German dry rieslings, such as Wittmann’s Morstein GG, can also achieve this.
After the success of the GG category achieved by many VDP members — wines of this kind have been produced since the early 1990s, but the GG designation was introduced with the 2002 vintage — a large number of non-VDP producers started following the GG production rules more or less; in other words, producing powerful single-vineyard dry wines from sites like the Morstein to try and rival the actual GGs. They are usually filled in the same tall, heavy flute bottles except they don’t have the letters GG embossed on to the glass. Recently, Gerhard Retter, the sommelier and manager of the restaurant Zur Fischerklause Lütjensee, collected all the current release wines from the Morstein site he could find from the lesser-known producers and organized a tasting at the Berlin wine bar Cordobar, in which he is also a partner.
The tasting revealed there is a group of Morstein producers that make pleasant lighter wines with little or none of the chalky power, which is what makes the wines stand out. The other group produces concentrated wines with this character, and the most notable of these producers are Alexander Flick in Bechtolsheim, Florian Fauth from Seehof and Katharina Wechsler in Westhofen. Their dry rieslings fully deserve to carry the Morstein name. Aside from taste and quality, the other advantage that these wines have over the ones from the famous producers is the price. The Morstein GG from Keller in Florsheim-Dalsheim — the producer of the world’s most expensive dry riesling named G Max — unsually sells for more than EU$300. Whereas, the Wittmann’s Morstein GG costs about EU$50, but the other good producers ask about half of that price.
Philipp Wittmann is not only a leading producer of dry riesling from the Morstein site, he is also arguably one of the most important German producers to emerge so far this century.
And what do you get for paying the Wittmann premium? For starters, Wittmann’s vineyards have been organic since 1990, and Philipp converted them to biodynamic cultivation in 2004. “The balance of growth and fruit has been better since then and this enables us to let the grapes hang longer without them getting botrytis,” he explained. Botrytis is an enemy of dry wines because it oxidizes many aromas and pushes up alcoholic content, as well as glycerol levels which often leads to heaviness. And biodynamic farming results in lower yields, in the 30 to 40 hectoliters per hectare range, which also explains the higher price range.
There is always wild fermentation in old, neutral wooden casks typically with a capacity of roughly 2,500 liters in Wittmann’s ancient vaulted cellar. Philipp inherited some of these casks from his grandfather Georg Wittmann, who made the wines from 1937 and up until Philipp’s father took over in 1971. All of these little details contribute to making the estate’s Morstein GG what it is now — a new grand cru of the Rhine. — Contributing Editor, Stuart Pigott