Germany · Rheinhessen

Weingut Katharina Wechlsler

Westhofen dry Riesling from limestone, alongside Pinot Noir, sparkling rosé and skin-contact wines from an organically certified Rheinhessen estate.

The producer

Katharina Wechsler took over her family’s Westhofen estate in 2017, redirecting a business that had long sold bulk wine toward estate bottlings and dry Riesling. Kirchspiel and Morstein provide named limestone sites; Benn, held entirely by the family between them, moves from limestone above to warmer loess below, allowing Riesling and a wider mix of grapes to grow in distinct ground.

The central Rieslings are fermented and raised in stainless steel, keeping citrus and orchard fruit bright, acidity firm and the finish dry. Spätburgunder Westhofener Kalk 2022 takes a different route: Pinot Noir from Westhofen limestone, whole-cluster fermented and barrel-aged for red fruit, savoury spice, tannin and broader texture. Fräulein Hu sparkling wines and the Cloudy by Nature collection extend the range into mousse, skin-contact grip and earthier flavours.

Known for

Dry, stainless-steel-raised Riesling from Westhofen limestone sites, with a broader range of Pinot Noir, sparkling and skin-contact wines.

Notable facts

The story

From Berlin to the Westhofen harvest

In 2009, Katharina Wechsler left her job as a junior television editor in Berlin and began winemaking school in Oppenheim. Before graduating in 2012, she worked the 2010 harvest at Weingut Gutzler and the following harvest with Klaus-Peter Keller. Both estates shared parcels in Kirchspiel and Morstein, the Westhofen limestone vineyards that would later appear on Wechsler labels. Katharina has said that Keller showed her how limestone shapes dry white wines and introduced her to trinkfreude, or joy in drinking. In 2012, the year she completed her studies, the family began bottling its own wines. Her formal takeover of the estate came five years later, in 2017.

From the atlas

Weingut Katharina Wechlsler

At A Glance

The Producer

Weingut Katharina Wechsler works from Westhofen’s historic centre, where the family business reaches back to the eighteenth century. Katharina Wechsler formally took charge in 2017 and put her name on an estate that had long supplied bulk wine. Its bottles now centre on dry Riesling from Westhofen, with vineyard names such as Kirchspiel, Morstein and Benn carrying the distinction between village fruit and individual sites onto the label.

Place

Westhofen is one of Rheinhessen’s important addresses for dry Riesling, and Wechsler’s holdings sit among its limestone-rich vineyards. Kirchspiel and Morstein are recognised grand cru sites, while Benn is the family’s entirely owned vineyard between them. A Kirchspiel or Morstein label therefore narrows the wine to a named slope; Benn names a privately held site with a different mix of soils and grapes across its length.

Soil And Site

Benn changes character from top to bottom. Its upper section has limestone and is particularly relevant to Riesling, while the lower, warmer ground moves into deeper loess and a broader patchwork of varieties. Limestone is associated here with dry whites that retain acidity and a chalky, salty texture; the deeper lower soils suit riper fruit and give the estate room for Pinot varieties, Silvaner, Scheurebe and less conventional wines alongside Riesling.

Story

Katharina Wechsler did not come straight into the cellar. Born in Worms in 1979 and raised on the family’s Westhofen bulk-wine estate, she studied French Literature in Paris, then Social and Political Sciences in Stuttgart, before working as a junior television editor in Berlin from 2006. In 2009 she entered winemaking school in Oppenheim. By 2012, when she graduated, the family had begun bottling its own wine rather than sending it anonymously into the bulk market.

The estate’s earlier mix of wine, grain and vegetables had spread agricultural risk, but it did not put a vineyard name on a bottle. Katharina’s takeover redirected the work toward estate-bottled, site-focused wines. The consequence is a range with two clear registers: dry Riesling from Westhofen’s named limestone sites, and a looser collection of orange, natural and sparkling wines from the estate’s wider grape palette.

Vineyards And Cellar

Organic conversion began in 2018, with 2021 described as the first officially certified vintage; biodynamic practices followed from 2020. Compost and herb-rich vineyard floors are used in the vineyards, keeping the farming focus on living soils rather than a bare, worked surface. For the central dry Rieslings, fermentation and ageing in stainless steel preserve citrus fruit, acidity and the saline edge of the sites without adding oak flavour.

Cellar work changes with the grape. Spätburgunder Westhofener Kalk 2022 comes from limestone parcels in Westhofen, then goes through whole-cluster fermentation and barrel ageing. The stems and wood bring savoury spice, tannin and a broader texture to Pinot Noir, rather than the lean, steel-raised profile used for the dry Rieslings.

Wines

The core range moves from dry estate and village Riesling to named-site bottlings from Kirchspiel, Morstein and Benn. Those Rieslings keep the focus on ripe citrus and orchard fruit, high acidity and dry finishes, while the vineyard names bring more site detail to the texture and mineral character. Kirchspiel and Morstein sit at the classified end of the range; Benn stands apart as the family’s own site rather than a grand cru designation.

Beyond Riesling, Wechsler works with Silvaner, Scheurebe, Grauburgunder, Chardonnay, Weissburgunder and Spätburgunder. The Cloudy by Nature wines, orange wines and Fräulein Hu sparkling wines use this broader material for different textures: skin-contact or natural wines can bring more grip and earth, while sparkling rosé brings mousse, fresh fruit and a drier, brisker shape. Spätburgunder Kalk occupies another lane again: a red Westhofen wine with whole-cluster savour and barrel-grown weight.

In The Glass

Dry Riesling leads with citrus and orchard fruit, then tightens across the palate with high acidity and a chalky, salty mineral feel from Westhofen’s limestone. Stainless steel keeps the fruit clean and the body light to medium rather than oaky; the finish lands dry, firm and mouthwatering. The named-site wines extend that shape with more concentration and broader texture, not sweetness.

Spätburgunder Kalk changes the register to red fruit, savoury spice and tannin. Whole clusters add a stemmy, earthy note, while barrel ageing rounds the middle of the palate and adds weight without burying the limestone-grown fruit. Fräulein Hu Rosé offers another texture entirely: fresh fruit carried by mousse, with carbonation lifting the finish.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose Spätburgunder Westhofener Kalk Ortswein 2022 to see Westhofen from the red side. It is Pinot Noir from limestone parcels, made with whole clusters and aged in barrel, so the glass joins red fruit with savoury spice, tannin and a fuller texture than the estate’s steel-raised Rieslings. It also makes the estate’s range easier to read: the same Westhofen ground supports dry, mineral white wine and a structured, earthy red.

Anecdote

In 2009, Katharina Wechsler left television work in Berlin and began winemaking school in Oppenheim. Before receiving her diploma in 2012, she worked the 2010 harvest at Weingut Gutzler, then the following harvest with Klaus-Peter Keller. Gutzler and Keller both shared parcels in Kirchspiel and Morstein, the Westhofen limestone sites that would later appear on Wechsler bottles. Katharina has said that Keller taught her about limestone-grown dry white wines and introduced her to trinkfreude, joy in drinking. In 2012, the same year she graduated, the family estate began bottling its own wines; her formal takeover followed in 2017.

Final Word

Wechsler is most direct in dry Riesling: Westhofen limestone, stainless steel, acidity and a dry finish. The rest of the range keeps the picture from becoming narrow, with sparkling rosé, skin-contact wines and Westhofen Pinot Noir showing how far the estate’s vineyards can travel.

Sources

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