Sebastian Rentz (January 20, 1799 – June 4, 1866) was a
German-American
German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry.
According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...
winemaker
A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:
*Cooperating with viticulturists
*Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...
in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
,
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
. Rentz was known for producing
sparkling Catawba wine from grapes grown in his
Ohio River Valley
The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its mouth on the Mississippi River in Cairo, ...
vineyard. He is also known for developing his own grape cultivar, the
Rentz Seedling Grape.
Rentz was a contemporary winemaker of
Nicholas Longworth
Nicholas Longworth III (November 5, 1869 – April 9, 1931) was an American lawyer and politician who became Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican, he was elected to the Ohio Senate, where he initiated the success ...
.
Personal life
Sebastian Rentz was born on January 20, 1799, in
Bad Saulgau
Bad Saulgau is a town in the Sigmaringen (district), district of Sigmaringen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 23 km east of Sigmaringen, and 27 km north of Ravensburg between the Danube and Lake Constance.
Geography
Bad ...
,
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg ( ) was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg, which existed from 1803 to 1806.
Geogr ...
. In his early life, he was a servant for a wealthy family and in 1825, he travelled with the family to the United States and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. He married Cecelia Zoller in 1828.
In Cincinnati, he first worked as a baker, before becoming a winemaker. Rentz had 11 children, six of whom survived him. In 1840, he built a 17-room house on Foley Road.
A portrait of the house was later made by landscape painter
Robert S. Duncanson
Robert Seldon Duncanson ( – December 21, 1872) was a 19th-century American landscape painting, landscapist of European and African ancestry. Inspired by famous American landscape artists like Thomas Cole, Duncanson created renowned landscape ...
.
Rentz was a founding member of
Our Lady of Victory (Cincinnati) (then called St. Stephen's) parish in 1842.
He died in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 4, 1866, and was buried at
Old St. Joseph's Cemetery. At the time of his death, he owned more than 100 acres in
Delhi Township and his estate was valued at $250,000.
Winemaking
In 1836, he purchased 40 acres of land in Delhi Township and started growing Catawba grapes and producing sparkling wine from them. By 1846, Rentz was the largest wine producer in
Hamilton County, Ohio
Hamilton County is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 830,639, making it the List of counties in Ohio, third-most populous county in Ohio. The coun ...
and produced a record 1,260 gallons of wine per acre. His wines won several awards including first place at the
New York State Fair
The New York State Fair, also known as the Great New York State Fair, is a 13-day showcase of agriculture, entertainment, education, and technology. With Midway (fair), midway rides, concessionaires, exhibits, and concerts, it has become New Yo ...
in 1851 and the
Longworth
Longworth is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, England. Historically within the north-west projection of Berkshire, boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire in 1974. The village is between Faringdon, to the west, ...
cup in 1856.
In addition to growing Catawba grapes, Rentz developed his own grape cultivar, which became known as the
Rentz Seedling Grape and was grown throughout the Ohio River Valley region.
He also made improvements to the wine press that increased wine production efficiency.
See also
*
Catawba (grape)
Catawba is a red American grape variety used for wine as well as juice, jams and Gelatin dessert, jellies. Grown predominantly on the East Coast of the United States, this purplish-red grape is a likely a hybrid of the native American ''Vitis la ...
*
History of American wine
*
Nicholas Longworth (winemaker)
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rentz, Sebastian
German viticulturists
American horticulturists
1799 births
1866 deaths
People from Bad Saulgau