The last (of a total of 22) winery visits on the Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015) was at Weingut Gunderloch in Nackenheim. We were received by the Owners and Winemaker Fritz Hasselbach and Agnes Hasselbach-Usinger. Fritz Hasselbach is a giant in the American market. His son Johannes Hasselbach has recently taken over; he was on a sales trip to the Northern European countries. In general, the Northern European countries, including Sweden, Finland and Norway, are a very good market for dry German Rieslings.
Weingut Gunderloch is close to our heart for several reasons. To begin with, when my wife Annette and I studied in Mainz, Germany, and had our first children, we regularly used to go to the cosy wine tavern of Weingut Gunderloch by bike on Sunday afternoon, had a couple of delicious Gunderloch wines and a Spundekäs (local cream cheese) with Bretzels. Second, for the time we have been based in Washington DC (from 1983 onwards) Weingut Gunderloch was one of the leading wine producers in the US. Fritz Hasselbach told me that during the peak, he was once a month in the US, where his wines are imported by Rudi Wiest selections. Third, Johannes Hasselbach is one of the 4 creators of the Wurzelwerk project. Annette Schiller organized their first presentation in the USA last year.
Carl Gunderloch
It all started in 1890, when the banker Carl Gunderloch purchased the Gunderloch manor house in Nackenheim. As the story goes, he used to trek from Gundersblum, his place of birth, to his bank in Mainz. On these journeys he carefully observed how the sun played off the hills along the Rhein Terrace. Based on these observations he purchased vineyard property that appeared to collect sunlight most efficiently and founded the Gunderloch Estate. Today, the Estate is still in the hands of the Gunderloch family, with Johannes Hasselbach in charge.
The Gunderloch Family
The property and vineyards have remained in family ownership since the days of Carl Gunderloch, who died in 1935, the estate passing first to Gunderloch's granddaughter Elizabeth Usinger and her husband. They remained at the helm until 1965, when their son Carl Otto took on the management of the estate. Until recently, his eldest daughter, Agnes Hasselbach-Usinger and her husband, Fritz Hasselbach were in charge.
Agnes and Fritz have 3 children. Daughter Kathrin Hasselbach-Bordiehn is pursuing other interests outside of the estate. Daughter Stefanie Jurtschitsch studied oenologie at Geisenheim University, where she met Alwin Jurtschitsch from the famous Weingut Jurtschitsch in Austria and married into this winery. She lives with Alwin in Austria now and makes Jurtschitsch wines. Son Johannes Hasselbach, with his wife, has taken over the winery. He initially studied business economics before turning to winemaking. It will be interesting to see in what direction Johannes will steer the winery.
German Dramatist Carl Zuckmaier
The Gunderloch Estate also has an interesting tie to the German dramatist Carl Zuckmaier. Zuckmaier, who became a Hollywood screenwriter, was born in Nackenheim and a friend of Carl Gunderloch. Zuckmaier not only wrote the screenplay for the film "The Blue Angel", but also the plays "The Captain from Koepenick" and "The Devils General". He also used the Gunderloch estate for the setting, and Carl Gunderloch as the main character for his very first play "Der fröhliche Weinberg" (the jolly vineyard). In this play Zuckmaier renamed Carl Gunderloch "Jean Baptiste" which is where the brand name used on the Gunderloch "Jean Baptiste" Kabinett is borrowed from.
Weingut Gunderloch
Weingut Gunderloch has 27 hectares of vineyards. In Nackenheim, there are holdings in the Rothenberg (Riesling), the Engelsberg (Riesling, Silvaner, Ruländer and Gewürztraminer) and the Schmitts Kapellchen (Scheurebe and Müller-Thurgau). In Nierstein, there are holdings in the Pettenthal and Hipping both planted with Riesling and the Paterberg with Ruländer and Müller-Thurgau.
Overall the vines on the estate have an average age of 25 years, and Riesling predominates as all but 20% of Gunderloch's vines are of this variety. The remainder is mainly Pinot Blanc (5%) and Pinot Gris (5%).
Vineyard practices include hand cultivation, hand harvesting and low yields with an average of 50 hl/ha for the estate as a whole. Once the fruit reaches the winery it is crushed gently without destemming, and then fed by gravity to the vats where it sees a slow, temperature-controlled fermentation to preserve the fruit character of the wines.
Weingut Gunderloch used to be export-oriented and well known in the US, with more than 50% of the production sold abroad. Johannes Hasselbach’s objective is to increase the domestic share in its sales, although the US will always remain a major market for Weingut Gunderloch.
See also:
Anniversary Celebration: 125 Years Weingut Gunderloch in Nackenheim, Rheinhessen, Germany
Wurzelwerk
“Wurzelwerk und Winzers Beitrag” (Root Work and Winemaker’s Contribution) is a fascinating and much talked about project of 4 winemaker friends/relatives from 3 world class wineries in Germany and in Austria. Starting with the vintage 2012, Max von Kunow (Weingut von Hövel, Saar, Germany), Johannes Hasselbach (Weingut Gunderloch, Rheinhessen, Germany) and Alwin + Stefanie Jurtschitsch (Weingut, Jurtschitsch, Kamptal, Austria) shared a portion of their Riesling grapes with the other 2 wineries and vinified the own portion as well as the 2 portions from the other 2 wineries into 3 separate wines. Thus, they make a total of 9 different wines. The first presentation of the Wurzelwerk project outside of Germany took place in Washington DC and was organized by Annette Schiller.
See also:
"Wurzelwerk" Goes America: 3 Vineyards, 3 Winemakers and 9 Wines
VIRGO
VIRGO is another interesting project of Johannes Hasselbach. VIRGO is a wine fermented in the vineyard. The purpose of this is to minimize the impact of wine cellar flora and yeasts on the wine. The grapes come from the Grand Cru vineyard Rothenberg. VIRGO thus could mean: “Vergoren Im Rothenberg Ganz Ohne” (Fermented in the Rothenberg without Anything). Alternatively, it could be the Latin word for virgin. Johannes started the project with the 2010 vintage (only 2 bottles).
See also:
Anniversary Celebration: 125 Years Weingut Gunderloch in Nackenheim, Rheinhessen, Germany
The Wines we Tasted
2013 Weingut Gunderloch Gunderloch Riesling trocken Gutswein
2013 Weingut Gunderloch Als wär’s ein Stück von mir
2013 Weingut Gunderloch Nackenheim Riesling trocken Ortswein
2013 Weingut Gunderloch Rothenberg Riesling Grosses Gewächs
2013 Weingut Gunderloch Jean Baptiste Riesling Kabinett
2013 Weingut Gunderloch Rothenberg Riesling Spätlese
2013 Weingut Gunderloch Rothenberg Riesling Auslese
Bye-bye
Thanks Agnes and Fritz for a great tasting.
schiller-wine: Related Postings
4 Wine Tours by ombiasy coming up in 2015: Germany-East, Germany-South. Germany-Nord and Bordeaux
Bourgogne Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France
Germany-East Wine and Art Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy, 2014
Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy, 2014
German Wine and Culture Tour by ombiasy, 2013
In the Vineyard and the Wine Cellar (and Lunch) with Robert Schätzle, Owner and Winemaker, Weingut Schloss Neuweier in Baden – Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Wine Tasting Luncheon at 1 Star Michelin Röttele's Restaurant im Schloss Neuweier in Baden, with Winemaker Robert Schätzle and his Weingut Schloss Neuweier Wines – Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Weingut Zähringer in Baden: Cellar Tour and Tasting with Winemaker Paulin Köpfer– Germany-South Wine Tour by ombasy (2014)
Weingut Freiherr von Gleichenstein in Baden: Tour and Tasting with Baron Johannes von Gleichenstein– Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014), Germany
Weingut Franz Keller in Oberbergen, Kaiserstuhl, Baden: Cellar Tour and Tasting with Fritz Keller– Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Lunch at Restaurant Schwarzer Adler in Oberbergen, with Weingut Franz Keller Wines – Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Wine Tasting at Weingut Bernhard Huber– Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Visit: Weingut Dr. Heger in Baden – Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Weingut Karl-Heinz Johner in Baden: Cellar Tour and Tasting with Karl-Heinz and Patrick Johner – Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
At Maison Trimbach in Alsace with Hubert Trimbach – Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Wine Tasting at Weingut Friedrich Becker – Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Lunch, Wine Tasting and Winery Tour at Weingut Jülg in Schweigen, Pfalz with the Jülg Family – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Wine Tasting at Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz in Siebeldingen, Pfalz – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Cellar Tour and Wine Tasting at Weingut Geheimer Rat Dr. von Bassermann-Jordan in Deidesheim with General Manager Gunther Hauck – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Winery Tour and Wine Tasting at Weingut A. Christmann, with Steffen Christmann– Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Wine Tasting at Weingut Weegmüller with Stephanie and Gabriele Weegmüller – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Tasting the Wines, President Obama was Served: Visit of Weingut Markus Schneider, Pfalz – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Cellar Tour and Wine Tasting with Philipp Wittmann and Eva Clüsserath-Wittmann at Weingut Wittmann in Westhofen – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Winetasting with Katharina Wechser, Weingut K. Wechsler, Westhofen, Rheinhessen – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
schiller-wine: Related Postings (Weingut Gunderloch)
Anniversary Celebration: 125 Years Weingut Gunderloch in Nackenheim, Rheinhessen, Germany
Weingut Gunderloch – The New Generation: Owner Johannes Hasselbach in Washington DC, US
"Wurzelwerk" Goes America: 3 Vineyards, 3 Winemakers and 9 Wines
Special Wine Event on March 18, 2014, in Washington DC with "Wurzelwerk": 3 Terroirs, 3 Winemakers and 9 Wines
Visiting Agnes and Fritz Hasselbach at their Weingut Gunderloch in Nackenheim, Rheinhessen, German
Riesling Lounge Goes Lomo, Germany