Battenfeld-Spanier

Battenfeld-Spanier Winery: Terroir wines from the limestone of the Wonnegau

The Battenfeld-Spanier Winery in Hohen-Sülzen, in the southern Wonnegau region, is one of Rheinhessen’s most distinguished estates. It was founded in 1991 by Hans-Oliver Spanier, who was twenty years old at the time and took over vineyards that had previously been leased. From the very beginning, Spanier practised organic viticulture and refrained from using chemical pesticides; in 2005, he switched to biodynamic viticulture. In 1995, he merged with the neighbouring Battenfeld winery, and the estate has been a member of the VDP since 2008. In 2006, Spanier married the oenologist Carolin Gillot from the Kühling-Gillot winery; both wineries are still run independently of one another, but have shared the cellars in Hohen-Sülzen since 2007.

The winery cultivates around 50 hectares of vineyards, approximately 75 per cent of which are planted with Riesling, supplemented by Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc. The terroir is characterised by massive limestone banks that run through the subsoil of the Wonnegau region. The vines must root deep into the porous, water-retaining rock to access nutrients. Due to the Donnersberg to the west, the region lies in a rain shadow, meaning summers are drier than elsewhere. The limestone lends the wines their characteristic minerality, which emphasises stone aromas rather than fruit.

Among the most renowned vineyards are the Frauenberg in Flörsheim-Dalsheim – a historic steep slope, first documented as early as 1290, with gradients of up to 40 per cent, a limestone gravel topsoil and pure limestone bedrock – as well as the ‘Kirchenstück’ in Hohen-Sülzen, an ancient vineyard on a plateau between two churches, the heart of which is home to vines dating from the 1960s. Added to these are the Zellerweg at the Schwarzer Herrgott in Mölsheim, one of Germany’s oldest documented vineyard sites with the same limestone base as the Frauenberg, and the Kreuzberg in the Zellertal valley with its vast underground limestone deposits.

Wine-making follows a philosophy of minimal intervention: the grapes are harvested by hand, fermented spontaneously with wild yeasts and matured in large wooden barrels or stainless steel tanks. The ‘Große Gewächse’ mature in single-vineyard barrels and are characterised by a taut, mineral structure with great ageing potential.