Rheinhessen lies on the left bank of the Rhein River, and the region is protected by the hilly landscape framed by the mountains Hunsrück, Taunus e Odenwald, thus it has one of Germany’s warmest and driest climate – with more sunlight and consequent solar radiation –, something that provides it with a special inclination to viniculture, whose origins date back to the Roman era.
Dominik Held has been familiar with the winemaking craft since he was a child, because his family has been engaging in vinification in Dolgesheim for several generations. Upon deciding to study in Geisenheim, the young Dominik naturally established contact with new ideas and wine philosophies, and he ended up falling head over heels for Austrian wines. As a consequence, he secured an internship with Andreas Gsellmann, by the Neusiedl Lake, an experience that would later not only shape his own way of working in the vineyard, but also formulate the exact role of the winemaker in the cellar.
After finishing his training with Gsellmann, Dominik returned to his family property with the goal of crafting wine in accordance with some principles that were different from those followed by his ancestors – he wanted to experiment with the new ideals that he had espoused, which means to say, he wanted to cultivate grapes in an organic way, and make wines with a minimal possible intervention in the cellar. His own father eventually handed him over 2.5 hectares of old vines with some well know and other tradicional grapes: Huxelrebe, Müller-Thurgau, Scheurebe, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Silvaner, Portugieser, Dornfelder, Sauvignon Blanc.
He got his first vintage in 2020, and since then he has been working towards a sort of agriculture which demands balanced and healthy soils, diminishing the use of copper, and vinifying with just a few or not sulfur at all. The manner in which he deals with each grape individually brings about the singular personality of his wines, undoubtedly rustic, salty, and with a flinty taste.
