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Middle Rhine

Middle Rhine (GB)

The wine-growing area is largely located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany, with a small area in North Rhine-Westphalia. The vineyards cover 470 hectares of vines, stretching from the municipality of Oberdollendorf near Königswinter, opposite Bonn, to north of Bingen, partly on both banks of the namesake middle course of the Rhine. The city of Koblenz lies at the heart of this beautiful river landscape. Winegrowing was established here by the Romans after the founding of the cities of Cologne (Colonia) and Bonn (Bonna). It flourished in the Middle Ages under the leadership of the Cistercians, who built the Heisterbach Monastery above Oberdollendorf, which is now only in ruins. The town of Bacharach is an ancient wine trading centre.

Karte vom Anbaugebiet Mittelrhein

Niederlahnstein is home to the famous "Wirtshaus an der Lahn". Near the municipality of St. Goarshausen is the world-famous 132-metre-high Loreley Rock. According to 19th-century legend, a mermaid attracted Rhine boatmen here with her lovely song and caused their boats to crash on the slate rock. The poet Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) made the Loreley world-famous with the lines "I don't know what it means that I am so sad". She is also the patron saint and emblem of the wine-growing region. Every year on the first weekend in September, the "Middle Rhine Wine Forum" is held at Rheinfels Castle, municipality of St. Goar on the Loreley Rock, and on the first Saturday in May the "Middle Rhine Wine Fair" is held in Bacharach-Steeg.

Climate and soil

The vineyards extend for over 120 kilometres on both sides of the Rhine deep into the side valleys. Some of them can also be found on the banks of the Lahn. The scenically overwhelming beauty of the area, with its many castle ruins, is presented as a narrow band of vineyards, some of which are terraced on the steeply rising slopes of the river. UNESCO also took this into account by declaring the Middle Rhine Valley between Bingen-Büdesheim and Koblenz a World Heritage Site in 2002. The wind-protected sites benefit from many sunny days; the Rhine acts as an excellent heat reservoir. The soils consist of weathered slate and greywacke, isolated islands of loess and, in the north, volcanic rock. More than 80% of the vineyards are steep slopes with at least 30% inclination, the rest are almost exclusively slopes. Some, such as the Bopparder Hamm, are among the steepest vineyards in Germany. The elaborate cultivation means that the areas are continually shrinking. In the last 30 years this has been around 40%.

Rheinschleife - Gemeinden Osterspai, Filsen und Boppard

Areas, communities and sites

The wine-growing region is divided into two areas, Loreley and Siebengebirge, with eleven large vineyards and 111 individual vineyards. The Loreley area is divided into ten large vineyards: Burg Hammerstein, Burg Rheinfels, Gedeonseck, Lahntal, Loreleyfelsen, Marksburg, Schloss Herrenberg, Schloss Schönburg, Schloss Stahleck and Schloss Reichenstein. Terrace viticulture is typical here. Well-known wine-growing communities with their individual vineyards are:

  • Bacharach: Hahn, Heylesen Werth Island, Fürstental Monastery, Posten, Wolfshöhle
  • Bad Hönningen: Schloßberg
  • Bopparder Hamm: Engelstein, Fässerlay, Feuerlay, Mandelstein, Ohlenberg, Weingrube
  • Braubach: Koppelstein
  • Damscheid: Sonnenstock
  • Dattenberg: Gertrudenberg
  • Ehrenbreitstein: Kreuzberg
  • Engehöll: Amber, Goldemund
  • Filsen: Parish garden
  • Hammerstein: Hell, In den Layfelsen
  • Kamp-Bornhofen: Liebenstein-Sterrenberg, pilgrims' path
  • Kaub: Baking oven, Blüchertal, Gutenfels Castle, Pfalzgrafenstein, Rauschelay, Roßstein
  • Kestert: Liebenstein-Sterrenberg
  • Koblenz: Kreuzberg, Schnorbach bridge section
  • Leutesdorf: Forstberg, Gartenlay, Rosenberg
  • Manubach: Langgarten, Mönchwingert, St. Oswald
  • Niederheimbach: Froher Weingarten, Reifersley, Hohneck Castle
  • Nochern: Brünnchen
  • Oberdiebach: Bischofshub, Fürstenberg
  • Oberheimberg: Römerberg, Sun, Truth
  • Obernhof: Goetheberg
  • Oberwesel: Oelsberg, Römerkrug, St. Martinsberg
  • Osterspai: Liebeneck-Sonnenlay
  • Patersberg: Teufelstein
  • Perscheid: Rosental
  • Rheinbrohl: Monte Jup, Römerberg
  • Rhens: King Wenceslas, Sonnenlay
  • Steeg: Hambusch, Lennenborn, St. Jost
  • St. Goarshausen: Katz Castle, Maus Castle, Loreley-Edel
  • Unkel: Berg, Sonnenberg
  • Urbar: Beulsberg
  • Vallendar: Königshof
  • Weinähr: Giebelhöll

Bacharach Mittelrhein - Burg Stahleck - Einzellagen Posten (vorne) und Wolfshöhle (hinten)

The Siebengebirge area with the Großlage Petersberg is located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and comprises around 25 hectares of vineyards. The wine-growing communities and individual vineyards:

  • Bad Honnef: Drachenfels
  • Bonn: Rheinaue
  • Königswinter: Drachenfels, Goldenfüßchen, Heisterberg, Laurentiusberg, Sülzenberg
  • Niederdollendorf: Goldenfüßchen, Heisterberg, Longenburgerberg
  • Oberdollendorf: Laurentiusberg, Rosenhügel, Sülzenberg
  • Rhöndorf: Drachenfels

Grape variety list

There were no major changes compared to 2009. Riesling is in the lead with two thirds of the stock, followed by Pinot Noir with just under 10%. The status in 2018 (0 = less than 0.5 ha):

Grape variety
dt. Main name
In Germany
common synonyms
Colour Hectare
2018
%-
Ant
Hectare
2009
Riesling White Riesling, Rhine Riesling white 308 66,2 306
Pinot Noir
including Samtrot
Pinot Noir, Blue S., Pinot Noir
Blue Pinot Noir clone Samtrot
red 46 9,9 40
Müller-Thurgau Rivaner, Riesling-Sylvaner white 23 5,0 28
White Burgundy Pinot Blanc, Pinot Blanc white 21 4,5 13
Ruländer Pinot Gris, Pinot Gris white 17 3,7 10
Dornfelder - red 11 2,4 14
Kerner - white 8 1,7 14
Portugieser Blue Portugieser red 5 1,1 7
Scheurebe Seedling 88 white 5 1,1 5
Chardonnay - white 3 0,7 1
Regent - red 3 0,7 4
Red Traminer Traminer / Gewürztraminer white 2 0,4 2
Sauvignon Blanc Muscat Sylvaner white 2 0,4 0
Bacchus - white 1 0,2 2
Cabernet Dorsa - red 1 0,2 0
Dark field - red 1 0,2 2
Ehrenfelser - white 1 0,2 1
Yellow Muscat Muscat Blanc, Muscat white 1 0,2 -
Huxel grape - white 1 0,2 1
Müllerrebe Black Riesling, Pinot Meunier red 1 0,2 1
Silvaner Green Silvaner, Sylvaner white 1 0,2 1
Auxerrois Small Heunisch white 0 - 0
Cabernet Blanc - white 0 - -
Cabernet Cortis - red 0 - -
Cabernet Franc - red 0 - -
Cabernet Mitos - red 0 - -
Faberrebe - white 0 - 1
Frühburgunder Blue Frühburgunder, Clevner red 0 - 0
Helios - white 0 - -
Dakapo - red 0 - 0
Cover red - red 0 - 0
Ehrenbreitsteiner - white 0 - 0
Gold muscatel - white 0 - -
Grüner Veltliner Weißgipfler white 0 - 0
Johanniter - white 0 - 0
Merlot - red 0 - -
Morio muscat - white 0 - -
Muscaris - white 0 - -
Optima Optima 113 white 0 - 1
Ortega - white 0 - 1
Phoenix - white 0 - 0
Reichensteiner - white 0 - 0
Rotberger - red 0 - 0
Red Elbling Elbling, Kleinberger white 0 - 0
Schönburger - white 0 - 0
Saint Laurent Saint Laurent red 0 - 0
Solaris - white 0 - -
Souvignier gris - white 0 - -
Syrah Shiraz red 0 - -
Würzer - white 0 - 0
Bouvier Boulder white - - 0
Cabernet Sauvignon - red - - 0
Muscat Ottonel - white - - 0
Nobling - white - - 0
Osteiner - white - - 0
Précoce de Malingre Formerly Malingre, Malinger white - - 0
other white varieties - white 3 0,7 0
other red varieties - red 0 - 0
WHITE SORT 400 85,1 389
RED SORT 70 14,9 69
TOTAL 470 100 458


Producers

Well-known producers include Bastian Friedrich, Didinger, Dr. Kauer, Heilig Grab, Hohn Peter, Königshof, Lambrich Albert, Lanius-Knab, Mohr und Söhne, Müller Matthias, Perll August, Ockenfels, Ratzenberger, Toni Jost Hahnenhof, Villa Riesling and Weingart Florian.

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