24.09.2012
Employee profile
Sascha Wagner – from the vine to the bottle
Sascha Wagner looks younger than he is. We meet up in his office and I note – he moves with deliberation. He radiates composure and carefully selects his words. Sascha Wagner is the cellar master at Balthasar Ress, a multifaceted job that begins with receiving the freshly harvested grapes and runs the gamut of winemaking tasks. He watches over the young wines from fermentation to filtering to bottling. Yet, he also shares the view that the quality of a wine is born in the vineyard. Given the fact that he grew up in Hattenheim in a family of wine-growers, one could say that he was born with vintner’s blood in his veins and was predisposed to viticulture from the start. “I’ve been able to turn my hobby into my profession,” says Wagner. Before coming to Balthasar Ress, he had already had a look behind the scenes at other estates as an apprentice at Graf von Schönborn and Robert Weil. It was while he was looking for a new challenge that he came across Weingut Balthassar Ress in his hometown.
The door opens and Christian Ress stops in briefly. The atmosphere is casual. It’s obvious that people like one another. And when Wagner says that he’s glad to go to work every morning, it sounds like he genuinely means it. Estate manager Dirk Würtz picked him up. Together with Würtz and C. Ress, Wagner will decide when to begin bottling. He’s enjoyed these discussions, as well as the overall spirit of solidarity, right from the start. Every now and then, colleagues get together for a glass of wine in the evening and get to know one another personally. What kind of wine does he like to drink? Without a moment’s hesitation he replies: “My favorite is a traditional dry Riesling. ‘Von Unserm’ is a good example.” What kind of wine would he like to produce that isn’t in the Balthasar Ress portfolio? Here, too, another quick response: Sauvignon Blanc intrigues him. An impressive cellar master – today, I’ve spoken with the present and future in the cellar of the Rheingau. It has a name: Sascha Wagner of Weingut Balthasar Ress.
Written by: Holger Schwedler
Sascha Wagner looks younger than he is. We meet up in his office and I note – he moves with deliberation. He radiates composure and carefully selects his words. Sascha Wagner is the cellar master at Balthasar Ress, a multifaceted job that begins with receiving the freshly harvested grapes and runs the gamut of winemaking tasks. He watches over the young wines from fermentation to filtering to bottling. Yet, he also shares the view that the quality of a wine is born in the vineyard. Given the fact that he grew up in Hattenheim in a family of wine-growers, one could say that he was born with vintner’s blood in his veins and was predisposed to viticulture from the start. “I’ve been able to turn my hobby into my profession,” says Wagner. Before coming to Balthasar Ress, he had already had a look behind the scenes at other estates as an apprentice at Graf von Schönborn and Robert Weil. It was while he was looking for a new challenge that he came across Weingut Balthassar Ress in his hometown.
The door opens and Christian Ress stops in briefly. The atmosphere is casual. It’s obvious that people like one another. And when Wagner says that he’s glad to go to work every morning, it sounds like he genuinely means it. Estate manager Dirk Würtz picked him up. Together with Würtz and C. Ress, Wagner will decide when to begin bottling. He’s enjoyed these discussions, as well as the overall spirit of solidarity, right from the start. Every now and then, colleagues get together for a glass of wine in the evening and get to know one another personally. What kind of wine does he like to drink? Without a moment’s hesitation he replies: “My favorite is a traditional dry Riesling. ‘Von Unserm’ is a good example.” What kind of wine would he like to produce that isn’t in the Balthasar Ress portfolio? Here, too, another quick response: Sauvignon Blanc intrigues him. An impressive cellar master – today, I’ve spoken with the present and future in the cellar of the Rheingau. It has a name: Sascha Wagner of Weingut Balthasar Ress.
Written by: Holger Schwedler