Saturday, October 25, 2025

Rheingau Weinkonvent - Grand Wine Convention Days 2025: Investiture at the Eberbach Monastery Basilica (October 2025)







 
The Rheingauer Weinkonvent is the leading Rheingau wine brotherhood, founded in 1971 at the Eberbach Monastery.
 
I joint the Rheingauer Weinkonvent about 15 years ago and participate in events as possible. The annual highlight is always "Die Grossen Konventstage" at the Eberbach Monastery.
 
This year, Annette and I were able to join the Rheingau Weinkonvent for the Investiture Ceremony 2025 at the Kloster Eberbach Basilica and for an out-of-this world tasting of late harvest wines, also at the Eberbach Monastery.
 
See here for the Grand Rheingau Wine Convention Days 2010: A Wine Feast in the Rheingau, Germany: The Grand Wine Convention 2010

Rheingau

It is remarkable: For its entire length of nearly 560 miles, the Rhine flows north with one exception – a 28-mile stretch where the river changes its course. Here, it flows to the west, thereby enabling both the river and the vineyards facing it to bask in the warmth of the sun all day long. This is the Rheingau, one of the medium-size German wine regions. It is a quietly beautiful region, rich in tradition. Queen Victoria's enthusiasm for Hochheim's wines contributed to their popularity in England, where they, and ultimately, Rhine wines in general, were referred to as Hock.

The third President of the USA - and notable bon viveur - Thomas Jefferson visited the Rheingau in 1788 and wrote that the wine of the "Abbaye of Johnsberg is the best made on the Rhine without comparison … That of the year 1775 is the best." He also referred to the Rheingau’s Riesling as the "small and delicate Rhysslin which grows only from Hochheim to Rudesheim". Impressed by the quality of the Rheingau Riesling wines, he bought 100 grapevines to take back to his estate in Virginia.

Picture: Map of Rheingau

Although the Rheingau is one of Germany’s smaller wine-growing regions, its 3,100 ha (7,660 acres) of vineyards are vastly diverse in their geological makeup. The soil varies from stony slate at the western part near the villages of Assmannshausen and Rudesheim to loess, sand and marl in the lower central villages of Geisenheim, Johannisberg, Winkel, Oestrich and Hattenheim. Soil reverts to stony phyllite in the higher central and eastern villages of Hallgarten, Kiedrich and Hochheim. Generally, wines from the lower slopes where the soil is heavier—sandy loam and loess—produce fuller wines, while at the higher slopes where it is more stony and slatey, the wines reflect more minerality, elegance and concentration.

The Rheingau enjoys a distinctly continental climate with cold winters and warm, but not hot, summers. The Rheingau is dominated by Riesling, accounting for 4/5 of the vineyard area. Pinot Noir accounts for 1/10 and is concentrated around Assmannshausen.

Eberbach Abbey

The Eberbach Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery. Its Romanesque and Gothic buildings are impressive. It was founded in 1136 by Bernard of Clairvaux as the first Cistercian monastery on the east bank of the Rhine. The vineyards of Eberbach Abbey were, at 300 hectares, the largest in medieval Europe. Most of them are now the property of the State of Hessen and are run by the Hessische Staatsweingüter.

Pictures: Eberbach Abbey 
 
Grand Wine Convention Days 2025: Investiture at the Eberbach Monastery Basilica 
 




























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