This name for Riesling is permitted in the entire German growing region of Baden, but is mainly used in the Ortenau area. The name is derived from the Klingelberg vineyard, which is the uppermost part of the single vineyard Schlossberg at 400 metres above sea level in Durbach. The Klingelberg was not designated as a single vineyard with the 1971 wine law due to its small size of only 2.5 hectares. There is documentary evidence that the steep south-facing Klingelberg has been planted with vines for over a thousand years. The soil consists of humus-poor weathered granite and is partly interspersed with porphyry and gneiss. It is a very poor soil with little water storage capacity. This forces the roots into the depths, allows only low yields and produces complex, mineral wines. In the wine inventory of Margrave von Baden (Staufenberg Castle) in 1680, the Klingelberger was mentioned separately and thus given higher value than the other wines. However, the stocking at that time still consisted of a mixed set of 15 varieties.
In 1776, the Klingelberg was replanted with 8,000 seedlings of a Riesling variety from the manorial vines in Karlsruhe-Durlach. As the vines did not really thrive, in 1782 Grand Duke Carl Friedrich of Baden (1728-1811) had 2,200 Rieslings from the vineyard in Bergen and 1,500 Rieslings from a vineyard near Frankfurt replanted. This made the Klingelberg the first single-varietal vineyard in the whole of Baden. At the same time, the cultivation methods were optimised. The variety thrived excellently and was in great demand, so that seedlings from this site were soon used to propagate Riesling throughout Baden. This is why the seedlings were called Klingelberger, a name that has survived to this day. It is thanks to the innovative Grand Duke (who also abolished serfdom in Baden and introduced compulsory education) that Schloss Staufenberg and the Klingelberg are known as the planting sites of quality viticulture in Baden. The first plantings of the two varieties Gewürztraminer and Clevner (Traminer) also go back to Carl Friedrich.
From the very beginning, Klingelberg Riesling was a blend of at least three different clones, so there is no single variety. The berries of the typical Klingelberger have a distinctive black spot called an "eye" and are somewhat flattened. They also turn bluish when exposed to sunlight. Due to the heavy frost in 1956, a large part of the Riesling plants froze to death. As a result, only a few vines of the extremely rare variety of this old Klingelberger can still be found. In Durbach, there were only a few vines left. In the winter of 2004 to 2005, cuttings were made from them, grafted and a part of the Klingelberg with 1.1 hectares was planted with them in April 2006. The project is being scientifically accompanied by the Viticultural Institute in Freiburg. Around 30 different Riesling varieties are to be planted parallel to the old Klingelberger. Evaluations of growth, resistance, yield, ripening time and other specifics will then be carried out over a period of years in order to be able to document the differences.
