Monday, December 5, 2022

Hessische Bergstrasse: The Top Winemakers - Vinum WeinGuide Deutschland/ Germany 2023

The Vinum Weinguide Germany 2023 was released a few weeks ago, presenting Vinum's choice of Germany’s best 1 000 wine producers and reviewing more than 10 700 wines on 1118 pages.

5 out of 5 stars („world class“) were awarded to 18 estates. In addition, there are 31 estates with 4.5 stars, and 66 estates with 4 stars.

See here: Germany's 18 Top Winemakers (With 5/5 Stars) - Vinum WeinGuide Deutschland 2023

This posting is the fourth in a series of postings that provide more details on individual wine regions. 

Ahr: The Top Winemakers - Vinum WeinGuide Deutschland/ Germany 2023

Baden: The Top Winemakers - Vinum WeinGuide Deutschland/ Germany 2023

Franken: The Top Winemakers - Vinum WeinGuide Deutschland/ Germany 2023

In Hessische Bergstrasse,

there is no producer with 5, 4.5 or 4 stars. There is 1 producer with a 3.5 star rating and there are 2 producers with a 3 star rating. 

Annette Schiller, ombiasy WineTours, and I have visited 2 of the 3 producers with 3.5 and 3 stars over the past years during a Germany wine tour by ombiasy WineTours, which is owned and run by Annette Schiller and based in Washington DC, USA.

Hessische Bergstrasse

(Wine Searcher)

The Hessische Bergstrasse (Hessian Mountain Road) is the smallest of Germany's 13 wine regions, in terms of both vineyard area and volume produced. With just over 460 hectares (1,100 acres) under vine, it produces less than 0.5% of Germany's total wine output, the majority of which rarely leaves the country.

The region is located within the federal state of Hesse, along the eastern bank of the Rhine river between Darmstadt and Weinheim. Generally speaking, the region is a northern extension of the Baden vineyard area that runs along the Rhine from Switzerland to the city of Mannheim.

The northern part of Hessische Bergstrasse extends from the Rhine to the Hessen-Bayern border, near the river Main. The Otenwald hills and Bergstrasse-Odenwald natural park provide a broadly curving eastern boundary.

Although the Romans understood the suitability of this region for grape growing, and historic documents show winemaking has been well established for over 1,000 years, Hessische Bergstrasse was only officially defined and inaugurated in the 1971 Weingesetz (wine law).

The region is planted to roughly 80 percent white and 20 percent red varieties. 

As production is minimal (about 0.5% of German wine), most wine produced here is consumed locally; it is highly unusual to see Bergstrasse wines outside of Germany.

The majority of the region's wine - well over half - is produced by the regional winemaking co-operative, Bergstrasser Winzer, based in the city of Heppenheim. Some 620 of the approximately 850 growers in the region are members of this organization.

The state government of Hesse is the biggest single vineyard owner, with 38 hectares (94 acres) in the control of the Hessische Staatsweinguter Kloster Eberbach winery.

Hessische Bergstrasse is known throughout Germany as a tourist destination and is particularly popular in springtime. The climate is mild, providing ideal conditions for viticulture. The soils are mainly decomposed granite, sandstone and quartz.

Visiting Hessische Bergstrasse`s Top Producers 

Griesel/ 3.5

Pictures: Ultra-premium Sekt: Cellar Tour and Tasting at Griesel&Compagnie, Sekthaus Streit, Bensheim, with Winemaker Rachele Crosara - Germany-South and Alsace 2018 Tour by ombiasy WineTours: Baden, Alsace, Pfalz and Rheinhessen

Picture: Tasting at Weingut Simon-Bürkle, Zwingenberg, Hessische Bergstrasse – Germany-East Wine and Art Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), Germany

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