German Wine Regions
Mosel
The Mosel winds from the Vosges mountains to the Rhine at Koblenz,
and is home to some of the steepest vineyards in the world. The
soil here is comprised of pure slate, which drains efficiently and
lends the signature “slatiness” to the wine. The wines
are racy with a granny-apple fruitiness that manages to be at once
taut and exuberant, set in a binding minerality you can detect with
the first whiff. All of this in wine as delicate as 7-9% alcohol.
Pfalz
No region contrasts the Mosel more than the Pfalz. The 50-mile stretch
just north of Alsace is the sunniest and driest region in Germany.
As a result the wines ripen easier, achieving higher alcohol and
netting more powerful wines. The Pfalz can make exciting wine in
a variety of styles, and it’s not confined to Riesling; Scheurebe,
Muscat, Gewürztraminer, Silvaner, the Pinots, all seem to flourish
in this benign climate.
Rheingau
The Rheingau is considered by many to be the apex of the wine-growing
Rhine. The “classic” wine of the Rheingau may best be
defined by what it is not: not as lavish or exotic as Pfalz wine,
not as easy and fruity as Rheinhessen wine, not as delicate and
tangy as Nahe wine. The wines can often share an intense minerality
with Mosel wines, but are typically more powerful and leesy. They
are firm, contained and dignified.
Nahe
The river Nahe flows north to join the Rhine at Bingen, but at one
point a sandstone barrier impedes the river’s flow, a range
of hills rears up along the north bank, and suddenly there are all
the makings of a great vineyard. Volcanic soils with exotic names:
porphyry, melaphyr, gneiss, rhyolite (often all four present in
a single vineyard) give the world’s most spellbinding white
wine, Riesling at an impossible pinnacle of fire and grace. The
smallest of Nahe wines are refined and delicate, with a feline grace.
The biggest of Nahe wines are dense and hypnotically intricate.
Mittelrhein
The Mittelrhein vineyards are nearly as steep as are those in the
Mosel, but the Rhine river, larger than it’s tributary, provides
a greater warming effect. Soils are Devonian slate and quartzite,
so the wines themselves bear a strong resemblance to Mosel wines,
though fuller in body, more “masculine” and often with
more exotic aromas that tend to highlight summer stone fruits like
peach as opposed to autumnal fruits like apple.
Rheinhessen
Rheinhessen lies in the crook of the Rhine, hemmed in by the river
on the east and north, the Nahe on the west and the Pfalz to the
south. It is undulating, fertile country, with the sedimentary rust
colored sandstone they call Rotliegand. There is an incredible diversity
in style and quality to Rheinhessen wines, but Nierstein is the
uncontested grand cru village whose steep vineyards fall right into
the Rhine
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