After his studies in economy, Johannes Hasselbach’s inquisitive nature inspired him to travel the world of wine. His travels led him to work at various wineries as he ventured from Canada to Chile, Australia and New Zealand. “My goal during my travels was to perfect my knowledge. I wanted to dedicate myself to the wine work outside the family winery,” he says. “I wanted to discover how other people think and how they made their wine. During these formative years, I had many unique experiences and met many incredible people and had the chance to share their goals and dreams.”
After this invaluable detour, Johannes Hasselbach has now taken over responsibility for the family business. His parents Fritz and Agnes did so much to restore this Rheinhessen estate to its former glory, and from them Johannes has inherited the goal of further dynamic development. International exchange remains important to him and he continues to find inspiration for his work as winegrower with visitors, colleagues and interns from around the world.
Johannes is also involved with the Wurzelwerk (“Rootwork”) project exploring the concepts of soil, home and Riesling. Four winemakers from three wineries are involved: Johannes plus Stefanie and Alwin Jurtschitsch from the Kamptal in Austria and Max von Kunow of Weingut von Hövel in the Saar. They all exchanged a portion of their harvest in 2012 with the motto, “Give me your juice; I’ll give you mine”. Grapes from their superb vineyards were vinified similarly with minimal intervention (spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel) in three separate cellars, each with a personal interpretation.
