Message from Christian Ress August 2013

The grapes of vintage 2013 want to be tended and cared for. In the meantime, vintage 2012 has received its finishing touch: our four dry wines from the sites Nussbrunnen, Wisselbrunnen, Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg, and Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland have all qualified for VDP Grosses Gewächs status. The new local examination commission of the VDP confirmed the wines' quality. As such, we're on board as VDP Grosse Gewächse make their debut here in the Rheingau. The final tasting to ascertain whether a wine qualifies for this status marks the end of a long process during which a wine is subjected to numerous examinations, tastings, and discussions. This long, time-consuming procedure shows just how seriously the Rheingau takes the VDP's refined classification. Prior to vintage 2012, "Erste Lage" denoted the peak of the VDP quality pyramid that links quality to origin. Since the implementation of the four-tier pyramid as of vintage 2012, "VDP.GROSSE LAGE" represents the peak, comparable with a Grand Cru in Burgundy, and "VDP.ERSTE LAGE" denotes the second tier, comparable with a Premier Cru in Burgundy. Analogous to this change in terminology (and increasingly stringent quality criteria), the finest dry wines of the peak are now designated "Grosses Gewächs" rather than "Erstes Gewächs." Wines from the former "Erste Lage" sites did not automatically move up to the peak of the pyramid - they must prove that they deserve top status. In the future, our work in the vineyards will take these critical and constructive factors into consideration. In all, this means a genuine, new initiative in the VDP Rheingau. Transparency, verifiable criteria, and a relatively limited number of "Grosse Lagen" and "Grosse Gewächse" - and with this, the resolve to achieve absolutely top quality through the implementation of the refined VDP classification.