Rheingau

The Rheingau is one of the most distinguished wine regions of the world. Moving from east to west, the fairly flat, dimpled landscape evolves into progressively steep slopes. The vines are grown along the Rhine River on the northern side between the mouth of the Wisper River at Lorch and the mouth of the Main River on the altitude of Mainz . A narrow strip on hilly locations falling away in direction Rhine . Small foothills at Hochheim and Flörsheim along the Main River . It is a quietly beautiful region, rich in tradition. Early on, its medieval ecclesiastical and aristocratic wine-growers were associated with the noble Riesling grape and, in the 18th century, were credited for recognizing of the value of harvesting the crop at various stages of ripeness from which the Prädikat, or special attributes that denote wines of superior quality, evolved. Queen Victoria 's enthusiasm for Hochheim's wines contributed to their popularity in England , where they, and ultimately, Rhine wines in general, were referred to as Hock.

In 1775 the late vintage was invented in the cloister Johannisberg in the Rheingau. According to the legend a messenger who was supposed to get the permission from the bishop in Fulda to pick the grapes was late and therefore the harvest was delayed. When the messenger arrived with two weeks delay the harvest was believed to be lost because the grapes were already rotten. The grapes were still brought to the winepress to get at least a little bit of house wine. After the fermentation came the big surprise, because an exquisite rich wine was found. It was concluded with incredible logic that the rot had increased the quality of the wine - the late vintage and therefore the noble rot were born. From these beginnings the high-quality wine made from selected grapes was developed in 1787 and the quality of the wine was even more increased through the selection of individual dried grapes.

The world-renowned oenological research and teaching institutes in Geisenheim have contributed significantly to the extraordinarily high level of technical competence in the German wine industry today. Two grape varieties predominate: the Riesling and the Spätburgunder. The former yields elegant wines with a refined and sometimes spicy fragrance; a fruity, pronounced acidity; and a rich flavour. The Spätburgunder wines are velvety and medium- to full-bodied, with a bouquet and taste often compared with blackberries

In 2001 the region of Rheingau which has 3.193 ha under vine produced 209.369 hectolitres of grape must which gives a yield of 66,9 hectolitres per hectares this was split into 0,0% table wine 42,5% QbA wine and 57,5 QmP wines.

Geographical location:

The Rhine Valley , along the 50° of latitude. The region is practically one long hillside on the northern bank of the river on its 30-km (20-mile) east-west journey from Wicker and Hochheim (near the confluence of the Main and Rhine rivers) to the river's bend at Rüdesheim and beyond, to the border with the Mittelrhein at Lorchhausen.

Major town(s): Wiesbaden , Eltville, Rüdesheim

Climate:

Very warm and dry, because the Taunus protects against cold winds from North and East. The vineyards are optimally orientated to the South in order to take up the whole power of the sun. Already Charlemagne knew this when he saw from his imperial palace Ingelheim on the left bank of the Rhine river that the snow first melted on the slopes of the Rheingau and he recognized the special suitability of these locations for the wine-growing. The reflected sunlight from the Rhine 's water surface also improves the climate. Mists often form in fall and contribute to a strong development of the noble rot (botrytis cinerea) and therefore they favour the harvesting of berry and dry berry high-quality wines in good years .

Geology:

Although the region is compact, there are many kinds of soil, including chalk, sand, and gravel, all types of clay, loess, quartzite and slate. Around Hochheim are loess and sands; between Winkel and Eltville are gravel, clay and loess soils. In the lower Rheingau between Lorch and Rüdesheim are mainly clay-slate soils.

Vineyard area

3.193 Ha 1 Bereich · 10 collective vineyard sites · 123 individual sites (see below)

Assmannshausen; Böddiger; Eltville; Erbach
: Flörsheim; Frankfurt; Geisenheim; Hallgarten
: Hattenheim; Hochheim

Johannisberg; Kiedrich; Lorch; Lorchhausen
: Mainz; Martinsthal; Mittleheim; Niederwalluf; Oberwalluf; Ostrich