Interview with Nina Heußler from the Heußler winery

Andrew Holloway (rotweiss): Hello Nina (Heußler), when I met you, you had just come from Geisenheim and were completing a second degree in marketing in Düsseldorf.

At that time it was definitely not in the stars that you would join the family winery in Rhodt unter Rietburg - on the contrary, you moved to Berlin. How did that happen?"

Nina Heußler: That's true, it was always clear to me that wine was a passion, but I wanted to be free, see a lot, travel and discover new things. As a country bumpkin, I was fascinated by big cities and wanted to go to Berlin. With my master's degree under my belt, I started at Wine & Glas and learned a lot about wine and gastronomy... and enjoyed the colorful, diverse and inspiring Berlin. The longer I was away and the more people I got to know, the more it became clear to me how rooted I actually am at home and how special and beautiful that is. I wanted to do my own thing - wine and sparkling wine - and when my parents announced that they wanted to cut back, it was clear to me...Meike was already working in the winery and we decided to try it together. After thirteen years of teaching and traveling, we went back to the roots. My little family Romy & Robin included.

Andrew: When I visited you in Berlin, I thought that you were on a management path and that I would next meet you as an executive. But leading a winery through a transition phase is also a challenging task. Do you have a plan?

Nina: Absolutely. A generational change is a huge challenge. My goal is to drive our family winery forward with tradition and experience behind us. Our parents have done great groundwork. We won't change everything, but we will boldly take the next steps. Heußler stands for passion and personal wines, sparkling wines, distillates... the & Töchter wines are unvarnished and authentic (like us girls). Handmade wines with character. The motto is small (9ha) but mighty.

Andrew: When I first experienced your Pet Nat, I was wondering if you were heading towards vin naturel. Please tell us how you came up with the idea and how the Pet Nat was created.

Nina: We definitely make natural wines! Our Pinot Noir is bottled without filtration. I think it's important to make individual decisions for each wine and the respective style. We try lots of stuff and are attentive to their effects on the wines. However, I cannot imagine doing without sulfur in still wine in the future. I had my first PET NAT in a glass in a Berlin wine bar and the combination of fruit, fine carbon dioxide and the cloudy yeast note immediately impressed me. Back at the winery, I wanted to know how our Muscat would be expressed as a PET NAT. In 2018 we made the first Heußler PET NAT. We had great ripe grapes, super aromatic juice and when the must was still fully fermenting we filled it into sparkling wine bottles. The carbon dioxide from the fermentation is thus bound in the bottle. Once fermentation is complete, our PET NAT is ready. The naturally cloudy yeasts included - this gives it its special aroma and makes it durable at the same time. Just the other day we drank a 2018, it has developed wonderfully.

Andrew: Will the Riesling & Töchter also come from the Klosterberg location?

Nina: The Riesling grows on the Schlossberg - a red sandstone site, perfect for Riesling! The & Töchter Riesling ferments Sponti (spontaneous fermentation) in half pieces. (600 litre oak barrels)

Andrew: Have you ever thought about making a Gewürztraminer statement on your way to the big leagues? Doesn't Gewürztraminer have a special status in Rhodt? I can't think of anyone in Germany who is really committed to this grape variety.

Nina: The Gewü question has not yet been resolved... next there will be a Gewürztraminer Riesling sparkling wine with long yeast storage, then a pure Gewürztraminer sparkling wine (harvested on September 8th, 2020!).

Let’s see what 2021 has in store for us!

Editor's note: The PET NAT has just won the Vinum German Sekt Award 2021. First place. Gold.