RHEINHESSEN WINE

'Rheinhessen' is the largest of 13 areas ((Weinbaugebieten) producing German wine, at over 26,000 hectares. It lies on the left bank of the River Rhine between Worms and Bingen, opposite the Rheingau. It produces mostly white wine from a variety of grapes, particularly Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner, and is best known as the home of Liebfraumilch, although some underrated Rieslings are also made.

Contents

Geography

History

Grapes

Styles

Regions

Bingen

Rheinterrasse

Wonnegau

See also

Notes and references

Further reading

External links

Geography

The Rhine forms the eastern and northern boundary of the region, with the river Nahe to the west and the Haardt Mountains to the south. The Palatinate lies to the south, the Rheingau across the Rhine to the north, and the Nahe region to the west. Known as the "land of the thousand hills", the terrain is undulating with vineyards mixed with orchards and other forms of farming. Its larger towns include: Mainz, Worms, Bingen, Alzey, Nieder-Olm and Ingelheim.
In general the wines are best nearest the Rhine, where the soils impart more complex flavours. The best known area for white wines is the so-called Rhine Terrace (Rheinterasse) between Oppenheim and Nackenheim, which by itself is bigger than the whole of the Rheingau. The main red grape area is around Ingelheim, in the north of the region opposite the Rheingau.

History

Grapes have been grown in the region since Roman times, and viticulture was promoted by Charlemagne.
At the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15, Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse, was awarded with Rhenish Hesse as compensation for the loss of his Westphalian territories. As a result, he amended his title to ''Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine'' and the name of the region was created.
Liebfraumilch is named after the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Worms.

Grapes

Mostly white grapes are grown, dominated by Müller-Thurgau (Rivaner) with 20% of the area, followed by Silvaner (11.3%) and Riesling (9.9%).^[1] Kerner, Scheurebe and Bacchus are also important, in fact Georg Scheu bred Scheurebe at the Alzey Research Institute in the region. The red grapes used include Dornfelder,Blauer Portugieser, and the newly developed Regent.

Styles

In the past, most of the wine had been cheap white wine that was off-dry to semi-sweet. The response to Liebfraumilch falling out of fashion was to market "Rheinhessen-Silvaner" as a dry wine, which wasn't a great success in regard to the export markets. Some dessert wines are made.
Since more young winemakers get their oenological education at the renowned ''Univerity of Applied Sciences'' in Geisenheim, the quality increases year by year. Nearly all styles of wine may be found, old fashioned as well as new techniques. Due to the competitive qualities at the yearly VDP wine market of the Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter held in Mainz, not all requests for the 2006 harvest could be granted.

Regions

Bingen

In the northwest, towards the Nahe river; Scharlachberg is an important vineyard. In the town, one of the most renowened Liebfraumilch ''Black Tower'' is created by Reh-Kendermann winery.

Rheinterrasse

Source of most of the interesting wines of the region, and home to a third of the Riesling. The ''Roter Hang'' ('red slope') in the north of this area lies on a sandstone that is reputed to give the best wines, to the south the soils become deeper.

Wonnegau

Region around Worms

See also

★ German wine

★ - pretty comprehensive

Notes and references

Further reading

★ Becht, Monika: ''Weinland Rheinhessen.'' (German) Frankfurt: Societäts-Verlag 2005. ISBN 3-7973-0936-8

★ Mangold, Matthias F.: ''Rheinhessen im Glas.'' (German) Offenbach: Höma-Verlag 2006. ISBN 3937329145.

★ Priewe, Jens: ''WEIN DIE NEUE GROSSE SCHULE'' (German) Zabert Sandmann 1997 ISBN 3-932023-02-1

External links

★ winedoctor.com Good overview of the region, concentrating on the Rhine Terrace.

★ German wines

★ Rheinhessen wines

★ Wineries, Companies and wine festivals in Rheinhessen

★ list of Rheinhessen vineyards