James Suckling reviews for Balthasar Ress

VDP.Weingut Balthasar Ress from Rheingau continues to collect high scores for wines produced under Markus Roll's direction and winemaker Stephan Sänger's efforts in the cellar. Stuart Pigott, who reviews Germany for jamessuckling.com, awarded the winery top scores for the 2022 and 2023 Rieslings range in its December 2024 report. It's the dry single-vineyard Erste Lagen and Grosse Lagen wines that earned a string of 93-point and 94-point scores from both the Hattenheim/Hallgarten area as well as from the famously steep "Berg" section of the Rheingau. It's fitting that Balthasar Ress gathers accolades for the dry wine collection. Fourth-generation Stefan Ress was a founding member of CHARTA along with Georg Breuer in the 1980s and later named VDP.Rheingau's chairman in 1993. CHARTA was at the forefront of a dry wine movement that influenced other regional producers. It inspired a return to Rheingau wine as it was in the early 20th century: dry and emphasizing its great terroirs. The greatest concentration of top historic Rheingau sites is in two areas: Hattenheim and its surrounding villages next to the river Rhein, which are home to the so-called "fountain sites" of Nussbrunnen, Wisselbrunnen, and the Marcobrunn. There have been years when Balthasar Ress produced all three, and Nussbrunnen and Wisselbrunnen are now GGs in the range. Towards the Rheingau's opposite end near Rüdesheim are the Ress holdings in two additional GGs: Berg Schlossberg and Berg Rottland. When asked about his favorite wine, Markus Roll says, "A Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland Riesling has never disappointed" (2022 vintage, 94 points: jamesuckling.com).