single vineyard in Homburg am Main, district of the market town of Triefenstein (Maindreieck area) on the left bank of the Main in the German cultivation area of Franconia. The name goes back to the Celtic "Calemont", which means a "bare mountain" or "hot mountain" and refers to the sparse vegetation on the summits. The vineyard was planted as early as the 9th century, probably by Benedictine monks. It was first mentioned in documents in 1102 with the founding of Triefenstein Monastery. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the Swedes plundered the monastery in 1631. At that time, over 100,000 litres of wine (approx. 150 Fuder à 720 litres) were stored in the cellars there, a large part of which may have come from the Kallmuth. The last provost of Triefenstein, Melchior Zösch (1725-1802), had the retaining walls in the vineyard built at the end of the 18th century.
Due to secularisation during the Napoleonic Wars, the Triefenstein monastery parts of the vineyard came into the possession of the princely house of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1872, the house bought a part of the vineyard previously owned by the Würzburg State Court Cellar at an auction for 20,000 gold marks. Through a land swap, the remaining parts of the original site also went to Löwenstein in 1957. During the Nazi era in 1935 and then again in 1973, extensions were made. These areas cover about 30 hectares, consisting of an area at the back of the hill and two non-contiguous enclaves (see map below).
The historic part was listed in 1981. It comprises 12 hectares of vineyards (8 of which are terraced), is solely owned by the Fürst Löwenstein winery and has been classified as a VDP Grosse Lage under the designation "Fürstlicher Kallmuth". The slope stretches from 140 to 240 metres above sea level and is terraced with a total of 12 kilometres of dry stone walls from two to five metres high. Up to 270 sandstone steps lead from the Main valley to the end of the vine rows. With a slope of 40 to 80% to the west, and in other areas with 20 to 50% to the southwest to southeast, the vineyard forms a cauldron that is only open to the Main.
In parts, the site is one of the steepest vineyards in Germany, with skeleton-rich soils of red sandstone at the top and shell limestone at the bottom. The climate is sub-Mediterranean, with temperatures reaching 50 to 60 °Celsius in summer, even in cooler years. The low precipitation climate is compensated by water-bearing layers with five springs in the mountain. The mountain is home to many species of orchids and other rare heat-loving plants, as well as rare butterfly species such as the sky-blue blue butterfly, the marginal spotted widder and the acacia-cap butterfly. The Silvaner, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc varieties are cultivated here.
Shares in areas on the back of the Kallmuth hill and the two enclaves are held, for example, by winegrowers of the GWF (Winzergemeinschaft Frankenwein), as well as the Deppisch Johannes, Huller and H. Martin wineries. Red wine varieties such as Pinot Noir, Domina, Cabernet Dorsa and Regent are also grown here.
Photo of Fürstlicher Kallmuth: VDP.DIE PRÄDIKATSWEINGÜTER
Map: DWI German Wine Institute
