Weingut Dönnhoff | Nahe

The first official mention of the Dönnhoff name dates back to the mid 1700's, with the family's own history book detailing events such as the early flowering of 1781 and then the bumper grape harvest of 1784. However, it was Hermann Dönnhoff (1880-1953) who laid the cornerstone for the estates present success, focussing his attention on planting Riesling vines in prized vineyards, and then during the 1920s filling his wines into bottles and selling the finest of them by their individual vineyard names. His son, Hermann Jr. (1916-1991) was responsible for the cultivation of the famous “Oberhäuser Brücke” site and also for the construction of the press house in 1936 and the estate‘s first cellar space.

In 1971 current owner, Helmut Dönnhoff produced his first vintage and has not looked back since. A regular on the shortlist of ‘German Winemaker of the Year’ and actual winner in 1999, Helmut’s work is helping the Nahe to take a share of the plaudits showered on the more internationally renowned German wine regions of the Mosel and the Rheingau. Only the best hand-picked fruit will do for Dönnhoff, in order to produce wines that are an honest reflection of the Riesling grape and the terroir its planted in, whether it be the volcanic soils of the Kupfergrube (copper mine), the deep, cool Brücke, the slate/sandstone Hermanshöhle or the slate of the Leistenberg. Fermentation is in the traditional large old wooden casks and there is a light filtration before bottling. Dönnhoff produce some of Germany’s most intense, bewitching and mouthwatering wines, that mixes Rheingau body with Mosel minerality.

WEINGUT DÖNNHOFF