News January 2013

As of vintage 2012, the origin of VDP members' wines will be classified according to the following four-tier pyramid:

VDP. GROSSE LAGE

VDP. ERSTE LAGE

VDP. ORTSWEIN

VDP. GUTSWEIN

What does this mean for the wines of Weingut Balthasar Ress? With the exception of a bit of revamped vocabulary, there are really few changes.

Pre-2012: "Erste Lage" denoted a top vineyard site.As of vintage 2012: "VDP.Grosse Lage" denotes a top vineyard site. This applies to the sites Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen, Hattenhehimer Engelmannsberg, Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland, and of course, Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg. Naturally, Assmannshäuser Höllenberg is also a "VDP.Grosse Lage." A corresponding change in terminology also applies to the wines produced from grapes grown in these sites. Pre-2012: "Erstes Gewächs" denoted a top wine from a top vineyard site. As of vintage 2012: "VDP.Grosses Gewächs" denotes a top wine from a top vineyard site. At this time, this applies to our wines from Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen and from the two Rüdesheimer Berg sites. Whether we will expand our range of top-quality dry wines remains to be seen. We have an additional option - the excellent Grosse Lage site Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen.

Pre-2012: "klassifizierte Lage" denoted a classified site. As of vintage 2012: "VDP Erste Lage" denotes a classified site. This applies to Hattenheimer Schützenhaus and our solely owned site Schloss Reichartshausen.

Pre-2012: "Ortswein" denoted a village wine. As of vintage 2012: "VDP.Ortswein" denotes a village wine. This applies to the appellations Hattenheimer and Rüdesheimer. VDP.Ortswein will appear on the capsule in writing.

Pre-2012: "Gutswein" denoted a regional wine. As of vintage 2012: "VDP.Gutswein" denotes a regional wine. This applies to our single varietal (Riesling) cuvées from different Rheingau vineyards as well as our "VON UNSERM" range. VDP.Gutswein will appear on the capsule in writing.