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Rheinhessen

German Wine Guide:

Introduction
Laws & Classifications
Prädikat & AP Number
German Wine Dictionary
The Saar
The Ruwer
The Middle Mosel Part 1
The Middle Mosel Part 2
The Nahe
The Rheingau
Rheinhessen
The Pfalz

The Rheinhessen is the natural choice for the next instalment of my guide to the vineyards of the Rhine. So far we have sailed upstream on the Rhine, from where it is joined by the Mosel at Koblenz, past the undistinguished vineyards of the Mittelrhein, until we reached once again the great vineyards of Germany. To our right, flowing in from the south, was the Nahe. To our left, on a south facing slope of the Taunus mountains, were the vineyards of the Rheingau, that border the Rhine as it flows east-west as far as the Rüdesheimer Berg, at which point it turns north once again. To find the vineyards of Rheinhessen, we must travel a little further upstream.

Rheinhessen is the largest viticultural region in Germany, the vineyards extending across more than 26000 hectares of land. To the west the region is bordered by the Nahe and her vineyards, whereas to the north it is the westward flow of the Rhine that delimits the Rheinhessen vineyards from those of the Rheingau, on the other side of the river. The Rhine also forms the eastern limit of the region, and to the south is the Pfalz, another of Germany's huge sweep of vineyards. Rheinhessen has been a seat of viticulture for many centuries, like many other such regions the practice of growing grapes and fermenting them to produce wine originated at least with the Romans, if not earlier than that. Its name is derived from Duke Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Hesse, who once owned much of this land. Despite this fine heritage, unlike the other regions through which we have passed on this journey, where monoculture of the vine is the norm, here the many rolling hills are host to a wide variety of crops grown alongside the grape. And the grape varieties themselves are also different, as Riesling is much less predominant, and the lesser German varieties, led by Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner, also have a significant presence. That such varieties, old and new, are more readily found here should perhaps not surprise us; many of Germany's aromatic, early-ripening new crossings were bred here by Professor Georg Scheu, after whom the Scheurebe grape is named.

Rheinhessen also has the rather dubious honour of being considered the birthplace of Liebfraumilch, the seemingly ubiquitous German white wine which, as I discussed in my introduction, was probably originally derived from the wines of the Liebfrauenkirche (Milk of Our Church) vineyard near Worms. Today, however, obviously no one vineyard can account for the millions of bottles of Liebfraumilch that are produced every year. Modern Liebfraumilch may originate from vineyards anywhere in the Nahe, Rheinhessen, Rheingau or Pfalz; this is a very modern, multi-regional, industrial brand, usually based on Müller-Thurgau rather than Riesling or other more desirable varieties. So far it may not seem as though Rheinhessen has much to offer those in search of Germany's finest wines, but this is not true. There are great, internationally recognised wines to be found in this region; to narrow down our search we should divide up this huge swathe of vineyard, which gives us three regions. To the south, as we near the Pfalz, are the vineyards of Wonnegau around Worms, whereas to the northwest are those of Bingen, named for the town of the same name in the extreme northwest of the region, which border those of the Nahe to the west. To find the regions most enticing wines, however, we should look to the the vineyards around Nierstein, in the eastern section. Indeed, looking at the vines grown here, it is the obvious starting place. The stretch of vineyards which runs from Bodenheim (near Mainz) in the north to Mettenheim (north of Worms) in the south, often referred to as the Rheinterrasse, accounts for one-third of the region's Riesling vines. In particular, I would suggest the vineyards clustered around the towns of Nackenheim, Nierstein and Oppenheim, central to this region, as having the most promise.

The vineyards of the Rheinterrasse, which is in itself larger than the Rheingau to the north, have a favoured mesoclimate in comparison with others in the region. The hills to the west shelter them from wind and rain, and the effect of the Rhine is to moderate the local temperature, protecting the vines from frost. To the north the vineyards have soils of red sandstone and slate, and this is true of many of the vineyards in the upper part of this stretch. This slope is the famed Roter Hang, (meaning red slope) which is reputed to be largely responsible for the high quality of the wines produced here. As we move further south, upstream, the soils become more dominated by loess and loam. These soils certainly have an influence on the quality of the vineyards, and the styles of wine they produce, as I discuss below.

The Top Vineyards

Top Winedoctor Estates

Keller
Gunderloch
Heyl zu Herrnsheim
Wittman

It is not true to say, of course, that only those vineyards of the central Rheinterrasse are worthy of our attention. There are good sites elsewhere, such as Schallachberg in Bingen, Burgweg in Bodenheim and Tafelstein in Dienheim, to name a mere handful. But I shall concentrate on the region's three greatest wine towns as these are the wines we are most likely to encounter. Starting with those furthest downstream, we have the town of Nackenheim, where the obvious vineyard to inspect is the Rothenberg site, which has a typical soil of decomposed red slate, and which is personified, in my opinion, by the beautiful, sweet, botrytised wines of Gunderloch, although that is to deny that the vineyard also has a reputation as being a good source of dry Rieslings.

It is not far from these vines to those in the Pettental vineyard, and already we have reached the commune of Nierstein. Rothenberg and Pettental are two of the most desirable and also steepest sites on the Roter Hang, and in the latter Gunderloch and also Heyl zu Herrnsheim have a presence; these two names dominate this section of the Rheinterrasse. The latter has sole ownership of the Brudersberg vineyard, a small site situated between the Hipping and Pettental vineyards which, thanks to a folding back of the slope, faces due south taking the full effect of the summer sun. It is the only such slope on the Rheinterrasse which is directly adjacent to the Rhine to have such a favourable aspect. Thus we come to Hipping, another respected site with typical soils, and then onto the slopes above Nierstein, where the Ölberg, Heiligenbaum and Orbel vineyards are located.

Around Oppenheim there are a number of worthy vineyards, led by Herrenberg and Sackträger, which as I have alluded to above have a soil type which differs completely from that of the Roter Hang. Here the red slate gives way to a more varied picture, of loam, marl, loess and clay, often on a bedrock of limestone. These soils offer much more nutrition than the barren slate further north, and retain much more water, and as such they are better suited to cope with the dehydrating stress of dry vintages, which can be a problem in Rheinhessen from time to time. Thus, although the vines in the Sackträger vineyard frequently yield wines that are the equal of those from Nierstein and Nackenheim, when rainfall is very low they may be infinitely superior. It is sadly true, however, that like many sites around the Nahe and in the Rheingau, there is no producer taking full advantage of what this site has to offer.

Moving further south, beyond the reach of my map, there are some sites that cannot go unmentioned around Dalsheim and Westhofen, in the Wonnegau region. Here we have left the red slate of the Rheinterrasse behind, and also the Rhine, as both Dalsheim and Westhofen are a few miles away from the banks of the river, the latter slightly north of the former. Nevertheless, these are essential ports of call, as here there are many sites extolled, to scintillating effect, by two respected producers, of whom one is perhaps rightly regarded as the region's finest. This accolade belongs to an estate located in Flörsheim-Dalsheim named Keller; the proprietors tend vines in the Bürgel and Hubacker vineyards, as well as in Silberberg in Monsheim. Meanwhile, working in Westhofen is Wittman, who produces wines from the Aulerde and Morstein vineyards. Both of these producers, despite their location some distance from the famed Roter Hang, and their seemingly overly fertile soils, turn out a fine array of wines.

Moving further south, we have the vineyards of the Pfalz. These will be the subject of the final instalment of this guide.

Next instalment: The Pfalz