Survey of Terroirs: Germany
Germany’s 13 wine regions and their unique terroir.
Why Germany?
The aim of natural wine should be to express the unique qualities of a certain place: its terroir. This includes the soil, the climate, the gradient of the hills, etc. Terroir focused wines place variety second. What’s more important than whether the wine is made from Pinot Noir or Cabernet Franc are the location of the vineyards and their idiosyncrasies.
Luckily there is a strong trend toward more terroir-focused winemaking all across the world, but Germany has a long and storied history in this field. This is especially true for the production of Riesling. Riesling is as versatile as it is transparent, so it serves as the perfect canvas for the myriad soil types and micro-climats throughout Germany’s winemaking regions. Riesling so dominates the population of exceptional wine in Germany, that terroir necessarily becomes the metric for judgment between one region and the next.
Germany is officially split into 13 distinct growing regions or Anbaugebieten. And although their delimitation is a legal one, this is a formality built on years of tradition, culture and philosophy. Each region is unique. They exist within different climates, embody different terroirs and are cultivated by different winemakers. And while Germany is not yet known for Natural wine, this is starting to change. Thanks to climate change, Germany has enjoyed a number of incredible vintages, spurring interest globally, and fostering notoriously difficult (and natural) productions. One of the really standout qualities of lauded vintages (like 2015 in particular) is that conditions have been close to ideal across the board, giving each region an opportunity to show its best. The following offers a brief primer on each growing region, the characteristics that make them special and the producers that matter most.
The Mosel
If the Mosel region isn’t known simply for being the best wine-growing region in Germany, then it’s certainly the region most associated with elegance and romance. Maybe this is due to the picturesque vineyards that bank the winding river, but more likely it’s because the best wines exhibit a lifted, harmonious quality that’s really hard to come by.
Still, these graceful wines do not come easy. Many of the top vineyards sit on some of the most painstaking and severe slopes on the planet. Cooler climates compound the difficultly, but the Mosel region is blessed with blue, red, and gray, Devonian slate which reflects warmth, retains heat, and makes for excellent soil drainage. These weathered soils also account for the expressive mineral character of Mosel wines, allowing for rich, opulent wines to find a balance in a stony structure.
The very best Mosel wines come from Joh. Jos. Prüm, Selbach-Oster and Schloss-Leiser. In addition, Weiser-Kunstler, Immich-Batterieberg and Clemens Busch make some exciting, excellent wines. A pair of natural producers gaining some noteriety are Rita & Rudolf Trossen, whose wines are getting better every year. The Stein wines are worth keeping an eye on, as well.
Saar & Ruwer
Both the Saar and the Ruwer are tributaries of the Mosel River. In fact, both winegrowing regions are now legally considered part of the larger Mosel region. Still, both of these sub-regions have their idiosyncrasies, not to mention some fabulous wines that typify these special features.
While slate is an important aspect of the Saar, Ruwer and Mosel, it plays a particularly important role in the Saar due to its especially cold climate. The heat retention and reflective qualities of the soil keep the fruit ripe enough to balance the austere terroir. If the middle Mosel is special for its unctuous fruit, the Saar represents the other side of that coin: the sheer, stony and mineral. A classic wiengut would be Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken. Another excellent producer getting some noteriety in the states is Hofgut Falkenstein.
The Ruwer has some excellent terroir as well. Despite its similarly cold climate, the region sees a fair amount of sunshine and is home to a few choice vineyards with steep, south-facing slopes. Maximin Grünhäuser is the classic Weingut here.
Rheingau
If there’s one winegrowing region that’s essentially linked to Riesling, then it’s the Rheingau. To start, it grows 7% of the worlds share, but beyond that it’s the region that has set the trend for much of the world’s conception of German Riesling, as well as Germany’s. The Rheingau was the first to refer to their riper bottlings as Cabinet wines — followed by Spätlese, Auslese and the rest — all to be adopted as the standard for the famous Prädikat system. The first nobly sweet wines from botrytised Riesling grapes were made in the Rheingau. The designation of Rheingau Erstes Gewächs (first growths) served as the model for the VDP classification of Erste Lage and Grosse Lage.
The Rheingau’s diversity of microclimates and soil types offer a unique opportunity for innovation and exploration while keenly sticking to the tradition of transparent, expressive Riesling. Vines in the north grow in granite, sand and clay, while the south is more predominantly schist. Some sites abut the wide and placid Rhine, while others are set back from the river on the sloping foothills. In choice parts, giant forests protect from cool, northerly winds. For centuries, these microclimates have been mapped out and exploited for everything they have to offer, most importantly today by Weinguten Schloss Johannisberg, Fürst Löwenstein, Joseph Leitz. J.B. Becker, and Carl Ehrhard are also producing some excellent, dry Rieslings here.
Mittelrhein
There are about 500 hectares of vines sandwiched between the Mosel and the Rheingau. The Mittelrhein is one the smallest and least significant regions, but there is high potential in some of its excellent vineyards and in its tendency for dryer, more mineral-driven Riesling. In the southern Bereiche of Loreley, there are massive slate deposits that tower over the Rhein river, offering excellent exposure.
Nevertheless, the region is covered with abandoned vineyards in these choice places. Much of the story of German winemaking is of resurgence after a deep decline. The Mittelrhein is just one such region primed for a renaissance. Producers of note include Florian Weingart and Toni Jost-Hahnenhof.
Rheinhessen
For a long time, the Rheinhessen was considered an unimpressive home for wine. It is the birthplace of the infamous Leibfraumilch, a plonkish, sweet wine referred to more often as a pejorative synonym for crude, commercial wine than anything else.
But and all, it is Germany’s largest winegrowing region and, in many places, serves as a climactic ideal for viniculture. It has long, dry summers, and mild winters, perfect for gingerly carrying fruit to full ripeness. There are large deposits of limestone in the Rheinhessen, a soil-type that also bodes well for viniculture (Burgundy, Champagne, Alsace…). Despite this, the region has had a difficult time coming out with a consistent, singular style.
Weingut Keller is almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the worlds attention back to the Rheinhessen. The dry Rieslings are sharp, stony, acidic and remarkably captivating. He is part of a larger collective of young, dynamic winemakers in the Rheinhessen that go under the moniker, ‘Message in a Bottle’.
Nahe
You might see the Nahe region affectionately referred to as ‘Germany’s tasting room’. Due to the marked ranged of soil types, topology and micro-climates, Nahe Riesling can resemble wines from the Mosel, the Rheingau and elsewhere. For better or worse, this means that uniquely identifying properties are contentious or hard to come by.
Still, some of the very best wines in Germany are produced here. This is due in part to the excellent climate. Mountains and forests on the in the north and west protect from wind and rain, making the Nahe particularly dry. There is a fair amount of sunlight as well. Most vineyards of note are south-facing, taking advantage of this fact.
Most importantly, the Nahe is home to a number of excellent producers including Donnhoff, Dr.Crusius and Schafer-Frohlich.
Pfalz
The Pfalz is a winegrowing region within the greater Palatinate region of Germany. Sitting between Bavaria and the Alsace in France, this is a region with a unique and independent culture, one that is reflected in its winemaking today. It is the 2nd largest winegrowing region in German, 22% of which is made up of Riesling. With an average of 1,800 hours of sunlight a year, it is the warmest as well.
In terms of terroir, the Paltz is cleanly divided into the Mittel (Middle) Pfalz and Southern Pfalz. In general, the more elegant, precise wines are produced in the northern, Mittel Pfalz, while more powerful wines are characteristic of the south. Much of this has to do with the landscape of the respective regions. The southern Pfalz is mostly large, flat basins of loamy loess soil. Where the Mittel Pflaz meets the Hardt mountians, the landscape is far more dynamic: steep slopes and some of the driest microclimates in Germany.
The three most important producers (the three great B’s) are Basserman-Jordan, Buhl and Bürklin-Wolf. Koehler Ruprecht is another excellent producer bearing much of the responsibility for quality wine in southern Pfalz.
Hessiche Bergstrasse, Baden & the Ahr
Sitting just north of the Baden region is the tiny Anbaugebiet of Hessiche Bergstrasse. It is the smallest of the 13 and made up mostly of very small productions within larger cooperatives. For this reason, very little of the wine makes it out of Germany. Due to the early onset of spring and late-coming fall, the region is colloquially referred to as the ‘Spring Garden’. Its Riesling is most comparable to that of the Rheingau, insofar as the wines are usually lower acid and more concentrated.
The Baden is more of a hodgepodge of nine distinct sub-regions called Bereiche. It’s therefore difficult to make any generalizations about the wines. One can say that as you travel south, the French influence is more and more pronounced, and that the frequency of Burgundian varieties increases. The Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) produced here is some of the finest in Germany. It was the home of the late winemaker Bernhard Huber, sometimes referred to as the ‘godfather of German Pinot’. There are a pair of excellent, natural winemakers doing innovative work for the Enderle & Moll Weingut as well.
The Ahr is the Baden’s primary competition for the production of Pinot Noir. The Ahr, however, is the northernmost Anbaugebiet (besides the newer Saxony & Württemberg) and therefore produces more austere wines. 70% of production is dedicated to Spätburgunder or Frühburgunder (a earlier ripening relative of Pinot Noir). The estates of Jean Stodden, Meyer-Näkel, J.J. Adeneuer have taken advantage of the fact that few Pinot Noir vines are grown in slate. With steep slopes and very favorable micro-climates, wines from the Ahr have become incredibly sought after. Still though, very few find their way stateside.
Saale-Unstrut, Saxony & Württemberg
Wüttemberg, like Baden, is made up of a few disjoint sub-regions. Very little wine from this region has garnered attention or acclaim and even less makes its way stateside. Lots of Blaufränkisch is produced here and Riesling is the most predominant white variety. This Riesling, however, has failed to find a singular identity.
The Anbaugebieten of Saale-Unstrut and Saxony are new editions following German reunification in 1990. Wines from this region have little to do with what we traditionally associate with German wine. However, both regions have supported viniculture for centuries, despite their northerly locales. White wine rules here, with Müller-Thurgau making up the largest share. You’d be extremely hard pressed to find these wines outside of Germany.
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