Palatinate (wine-growing region)
Data | |
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Wine-growing area : | Palatinate |
State : | Rhineland-Palatinate |
Viticulture since: | 1st century ( Roman times ) |
Vineyard area:
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228.9 km² (2012)
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Vineyards
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350
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Vines : | > 100 million |
Approved varieties : |
white (incl. gray) 64 red (incl. rosé) 62 |
Winegrowers :
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approx. 3600
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Wine production / year: | 2.36 million hectoliters |
Wine Queen : | Anna-Maria Löffler (2019/20) |
Website: | www.pfalzwein.de |
map | |
German wine-growing regions; Palatinate highlighted in light blue |
The German wine-growing region Pfalz lies within the region of the same name in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . With the designation of origin "Pfalz" quality and predicate wines are produced, which are called Pfalzweine .
After Rheinhessen (about 257 square kilometers), the Palatinate with well 228 sq km area under cultivation, the second largest German wine-growing region represents. Approximately 3,600 wineries , less than half of them in the main acquisition, cultivate here more than 100 million vines and produce about 2.5 million annually Hectoliters of wine. The percentage ratio of the areas under cultivation of white and red grape varieties is around 60:40, with the cultivation of red grape varieties having decreased slightly after increasing in recent decades.
overview
geography
The Palatinate , with a surface area of over 5400 km², is a region in southwest Germany , which lies in the south of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . The wine-growing region of the same name , in which wine determines agriculture and the landscape , takes up just under 5 percent of the total area of the Palatinate .
Wine is grown in a total of 144 Palatinate localities, preferably in the South and Front Palatinate on the western edge of the plain between the Rhine and the Palatinate Forest . There, at the break between the lowlands and low mountain ranges, lies at 110 to 150 m above sea level. NHN is a narrow, about 85 km long and a maximum of 15 km wide hill zone, which is the largest wine-growing region in the Palatinate. However, their total area is far from being cultivated with vineyards ; the suitable parts extend mainly on both sides of the German Wine Route , which runs through the middle of the vine hills from south to north.
Originally the wine-growing area was divided into three parts and was divided from south to north into Ober-, Mittel- and Unterhaardt . During the Rhineland-Palatinate administrative reform in 1969, u. a. the district of Frankenthal (Palatinate) , to whose western part the Unterhaardt belonged, was dissolved and this western part was added to the new district of Bad Dürkheim , which also took over almost all of Mittelhaardt from the district of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse , which was also dissolved . As a result, Mittelhaardt and Unterhaardt were merged as the Mittelhaardt-German Wine Route , while the Oberhaardt became the Southern Wine Route .
The Haardt wine-growing region thus consists of two roughly equal areas :
Südliche Weinstraße - The area is mostly within the district of the same name, Südliche Weinstraße, including the centrally located urban district of Landau , partly also in the neighboring district of Germersheim , and extends from the Alsatian border in the south - some areas near Weißenburg are even on French territory - to the north District border on the southern edge of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse .
Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstrasse - The area begins on the southern border of Neustadt; it includes the independent city of Neustadt, the Bad Dürkheim district and some communities in the Rhein-Pfalz district and ends in the north on the border with Rheinhessen. There the Zellertal , which is still included in the area, stretches to the west-northwest into the northern Palatinate .
In general, with this classification, viticulture is of course not practiced on all agricultural areas of the listed districts and cities, but only on the parts that are within or at least close to the Haardt; the western areas extend into the low mountain range, where only forestry can be carried out due to the altitude , the eastern areas into the Rhine plain, which is one of the German centers of vegetable cultivation . There, however, significant viticulture can be found in a number of communities, but the vineyards here, in contrast to neighboring wine-growing areas, do not come right up to the Rhine.
To the west of the northern border of the Haardt and Rheinhessen are the Zellertal and the eastern Donnersberg foreland, which belong to the northern Palatinate and contribute to the Palatinate wine-growing region with 16 wine-growing villages . Other parts of the North Palatinate in Alsenz- and Glantal belong to the wine region near .
climate
The small areas mentioned in the Northern Palatinate benefit in individual cases from particularly protected locations, while the area around the German Wine Route has ideal conditions for viticulture in large areas:
With over 1800 hours of sunshine annually, it is one of the regions with the mildest temperatures in Germany, so that, according to advertising, the climate is almost Mediterranean . Within the EU, the area is assigned to wine-growing zone A. The mean annual temperature is 11 ° C, the average temperature in summer is 20 ° C and in winter is 0 ° C. In addition, the Rhine Plain is largely protected from extreme cold air ingress by the mountains that surround it. On the slopes of the Haardt, the risk of frost damage after the vines have sprouted in spring is also minimized, because the cold air that arises during the nights does not remain over the vineyards but can slide down to the plain. On top of that, the low mountain range in the west protects the Palatinate wine-growing area in its lee from too much precipitation in south-west or west weather conditions; in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse z. B. the annual amount is about 500 mm.
Especially those slopes that are oriented to the southeast, south or southwest and thus to the course of the sun benefit from the sum of the advantages listed.
Floors
The soils on the Haardt consist entirely of mixtures of sand , loam , marl and clay , but the proportions change. In general, the soils on the Südliche Weinstrasse are considered to be richer in nutrients and therefore heavier than those in the Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstrasse area because of their higher clay content . Their lighter soils are more permeable to water and have the effect that the roots of the vine are more dry, which means that the surrounding soil can warm up more and more sustainably. The fact that the vines also have to root deeper in light soils in order to supply themselves with moisture also promotes the absorption of minerals. These circumstances are held responsible for the fact that the vines of the southern Palatinate bring higher yields, while the Palatinate top wine locations can be found more between Neustadt and Bad Dürkheim .
history
The grapevine came to the Palatinate with the Romans shortly after the turn of the century . Its further history coincides with that of the other German wine-growing regions, as can be read under History of Viticulture .
After the end of the Napoleonic era, the Palatinate was initially administered by the Kingdom of Bavaria as the "Rhine District" from 1816 and later referred to as the "Rhine Palatinate" until 1946 , not least to distinguish it from the Upper Palatinate . Against this historical background, “Rheinpfalz” also stood for the Palatinate wine-growing region for a long time. Since August 27, 1993, the name for this growing area, following the name of the region, has also been "Pfalz".
Grape varieties
64 white and 62 red grape varieties are permitted for cultivation in the Palatinate.
White varieties
The leading grape variety in Palatinate white wine has long been Riesling (5058 ha = 21.7% of the cultivation area), which produces long-lasting and easily digestible, sometimes acidic wines. It is often these who - with a correspondingly low level of residual sugar - are allowed to bear the “Suitable for diabetics” seal of approval. Müller-Thurgau (Rivaner) as a younger grape variety and Silvaner as the old have to accept losses, with Müller-Thurgau (2364 ha = 10.1%) still clearly maintaining second place. The Kerner breeding, which has been successful for years (1206 ha = 5.2%) in third place, also loses again. The Pinot Blanc and the Pinot Gris (Ruländer) have increased their market shares significantly recently. Gewürztraminer , Morio nutmeg and Scheurebe are also of regional importance . The early-ripening varieties Bacchus , Siegerrebe and Ortega are preferred for the spring white , which is popular in autumn and is called “Najer Woi” (New Wine) . In the north of the Palatinate, Riesling dominates as the most commonly grown grape variety, followed by Müller-Thurgau. In the southern part, the range of grape varieties is richer: Müller-Thurgau, Weißer and Grauer Burgunder, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Muskateller and Chardonnay are the most widespread white wines here.
The Palatinate sparkling wine , which is now well-known beyond the region, comes primarily from Riesling grapes, but also from Pinot Blanc .
Approved white grape varieties (64; as of 2017) | |||
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Red varieties
For a long time, the most common red wine variety in the Palatinate was the undemanding Portuguese . Today it has fallen back to second place (2346 ha = 10.1%) , specifically cultivated for light wine by the glass and white autumns . The Dornfelder is recording enormous growth. Due to its advantages as an early ripe and colorful mass carrier, it has become a fashion variety and is now in 1st place with 3240 ha = 13.9%. As part of the quality improvement also brings Pinot Noir (Pinot noir) and achieved 3rd place in 1588 ha = 6.8%. Significant shares are recorded e.g. B. also Cabernet Sauvignon , Regent , Merlot or St. Laurent .
The not yet widely used red wine sparkling wine is primarily made from grapes from Pinot Noir, e.g. T. also made by Dornfelder. White or pale rose-colored sparkling wine is sometimes made from red grapes. This method, which is also common in Champagne , is often used with Black Riesling and Pinot Noir. It results in soft, low-acid sparkling wine.
Approved red grape varieties (62; as of 2017) | |||
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Characteristic
Over a long period in the second half of the 20th century, volume increases were sought. This goal proved to be a dead end; Inferior quality and falling prices were the result. That is why quality has been given priority since the beginning of the 1990s: The minimum number of Oechsle grades has been raised, and well over half of the wines are now made dry or semi-dry; with the dry ones, the tendency is clearly from tart to fruity . Overall, there is a trend towards Palatine wines that can be drunk young and are also suitable for storage.
Competitions, wine forums and wine fairs document the increased quality. White wines are now being grown in the Palatinate, which can compete with those in well-known wine-growing areas such as Burgundy or Friuli ; In terms of white wine, Pfalz can no longer be equated with Riesling , even if this continues to dominate. In the case of red wine, the downward trend in the Portugieser shows a trend in the same direction; Pinot Noir or Regent wines from the Palatinate compete, especially in barrique aging , with top products from Tuscany or Bordeaux . Even the deep red Dornfelder, initially favored as a consumer wine, whose Oechsle lower limit was raised in 2005, shows scents and berry aromas that are reminiscent of Merlot after maturing in barrique casks.
Wine-growing communities
Assignment
The official marketing association Pfalzwein e. V. states 144 wine-growing communities for its area of responsibility. They are all included in the two tables below, broken down into Northern Palatinate and Vorderpfalz / Südpfalz . Those places in the North Palatinate that belong to the Nahe wine-growing region are missing .
On a map you can find the municipalities from north to south one below the other and, if they are listed here in the same line of the table, next to each other in a west-east direction. The cardinal points correspond to those on the map. Sights and nationally important festivals that are related to viticulture are added in italics . The background colors mean:
Wine-growing communities and their assignment in the Northern Palatinate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Largest wine-growing communities
Largest wine-growing communities in the growing area |
Rank among all Rhineland-Palatinate wine-growing communities according to vineyards |
Planted vineyards in 2017 (in ha ) |
Grape varieties | |
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white | Red | |||
(in %) | ||||
Palatinate | 23,652 | 65 | 35 | |
Landau (Palatinate) | 1 | 2,067 | 66 | 34 |
Neustadt (Weinstrasse) | 2 | 2,031 | 67 | 33 |
Cheap home-Ingenheim | 4th | 843 | 62 | 38 |
Bad Dürkheim | 6th | 819 | 68 | 32 |
Kirrweiler | 14th | 589 | 67 | 33 |
Edesheim | 17th | 505 | 61 | 39 |
Deidesheim | 18th | 498 | 85 | 15th |
Wachenheim (Weinstrasse) | 20th | 473 | 75 | 25th |
Goecklingen | 22nd | 464 | 65 | 34 |
Freinsheim | 25th | 437 | 61 | 39 |
Source: Leaflet Viticulture 2018. State Statistical Office Rhineland-Palatinate, Bad Ems, May 2018 |
The largest wine-growing communities in the Palatinate according to the criterion of planted vineyards in hectares are shown in the table opposite. The ranking results from the overall table for Rhineland-Palatinate.
Vineyards
Viticulture in the Palatinate is operated in 25 large and 325 individual layers. All Palatinate vineyards are included in the corresponding list , while only a few are listed here, for which there is a separate article:
- Large locations
- Single layers
- Deidesheimer Hohenmorgen
- Deidesheim lime kiln
- Deidesheimer Mäushöhle
- Deidesheim Paradise Garden
- Dirmsteiner Jesuitenhofgarten
- Forster church piece
- Forster monster
- Kallstadt Saumagen
- Mußbacher donkey skin
Producer and Market
The wine producers are made up of around 1520 self-marketers, i.e. wineries , as well as 18 winegrowers' cooperatives and eleven producer groups.
In 2008, around 48 percent of the market was supplied by wine dealers , around 34 percent by self-marketers and around 18 percent by producer groups. A quarter of the production was exported in 2008, with Great Britain being by far the most important customer country.
Wineries
In terms of the amount of wine they produce, the well-known traditional wineries of the Palatinate have long since been replaced by large to very large winegrowers' cooperatives. Have supra-regional and partly international importance u. A. the following wineries:
- Acham-Magin * winery , Forst
- Anselmann winery , Edesheim
- Weingut Privy Councilor Dr. from Bassermann-Jordan *, Deidesheim
- Friedrich Becker * winery , Schweigen-Rechtenbach
- Bergdolt winery, Klostergut St. Lamprecht *, Neustadt-Duttweiler
- Bernhart * winery , Schweigen-Rechtenbach
- Josef Biffar winery , Deidesheim
- Winery Dr. Bürklin-Wolf *, Wachenheim
- Reichsrat von Buhl * winery , Deidesheim
- A. Christmann * winery , Neustadt-Gimmeldingen
- Fitz-Ritter * winery , Bad Dürkheim
- Henninger IV winery , Kallstadt
- Knipser * winery , Laumersheim
- Kranz winery *, Ilbesheim
- Koehler-Ruprecht * winery , Kallstadt
- Philipp Kuhn * winery , Laumersheim
- Herbert Meßmer * winery , Burrweiler
- Theo Minges * winery , Flemlingen
- Georg Mosbacher * winery , Forst
- Müller-Catoir * winery , Neustadt-Haardt
- Münzberg * winery , Landau-Godramstein
- Mugler * winery , Neustadt-Gimmeldingen
- Ludi Neiss winery , children's home
- Heinz Pfaffmann winery , Walsheim
- Karl Pfaffmann winery , Walsheim
- Tina Pfaffmann winery , Frankweiler
- Pfeffingen * winery , Bad Dürkheim
- Winery Ökonomierat Rebholz *, Siebeldingen
- Karl Schaefer * winery , Bad Dürkheim
- Markus Schneider winery , Ellerstadt
- Scholler winery , Birkweiler
- Georg Siben Erben * winery , Deidesheim
- Siegrist * winery , Leinsweiler
- Siener winery , Birkweiler
- Winery Dr. Wehrheim *, Birkweiler
- Winning * estate (formerly Dr. Deinhard), Deidesheim
Most of these wineries - marked with * in the list - are grouped together in the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP), which has been operating under this name since 1972 and whose Palatinate section is called the Association of Palatinate Prädikats- und Qualitätsweiner .
The most famous sparkling wine cellar in the Palatinate and at the same time the world's largest sparkling wine producer is Schloss Wachenheim AG in Wachenheim an der Weinstrasse , which has been in existence since 1888 .
Wine cooperatives
In the field of winegrowers' cooperatives, there has been a strong concentration in recent decades, as smaller cooperatives sometimes merged into larger units. The business area of the German wine cooperative, based in Ilbesheim, covers almost the entire southern wine route. This cooperative is the largest of the 18 existing in terms of annual turnover, storage capacity and number of members, but the Vier Jahreszeiten winegrowers , whose headquarters are in Bad Dürkheim, have the largest vineyards. The third largest cooperative is the Hoheburg winegrowers' association in Ruppertsberg . The following table summarizes the parameters from 2009.
Wine cooperative | Annual turnover (million euros) |
Storage capacity (million liters) |
Members | Vineyards (hectares) |
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WG Deutsches Weintor | 30.0 | 33.5 | 348 | 543 |
Four seasons winemaker | 12.6 | 20.3 | 312 | 647 |
Winegrowers Association Hoheburg | 9.1 | 13.2 | 275 | 457 |
Palatinate wine queen
The following applicants from the Palatinate were then German Wine Queen :
- 1949/1950 Elisabeth Kuhn , later Gies (1930–2012), Diedesfeld
- 1955/1956 Irmgard Mohler (1937–1981), Bad Bergzabern (was not previously Palatinate Wine Queen)
- 1960/1961 Christel Koch, Ungstein
- 1965/1966 Waltraud Hey, Oberotterbach
- 1971/1972 Ruth Kröther, later Kern (1951–2012), Freinsheim
- 1981/1982 Hildegard Weber, Gönnheim
- 1990/1991 Birgit Schehl, later Rebholz-Schehl (* 1969), Hainfeld
- 2005/2006 Sylvia Benzinger , later Benzinger-Kugler (* 1978), Kirchheim
- 2006/2007 Katja Schweder (* 1980), Hochstadt
- 2013/2014 Janina Huhn (* 1989), Bad Dürkheim
particularities
The Palatinate wine-growing region has a number of special features:
- The "largest barrel in the world" , the giant barrel with a volume of around 1.7 million liters, is in Bad Dürkheim and contains a wine bar.
- The "largest wine festival in the world" , the Dürkheim sausage market, is celebrated in the same place .
- The “largest wine grower parade in the world” , the Neustadter wine grower parade , takes place in the eponymous city during the German grape harvest festival.
- Landau (2039 hectares of vineyards, as of 2006) and Neustadt (2012 hectares) are competing for the unofficial title of “Germany's largest wine- growing community” .
- The "oldest wine route in Germany" combines since 1935 as German Wine Route , the majority of the Palatinate wine-growing villages. The German Wine Route is marked at its starting point in the south by the German Wine Gate and at its northern end by the House of the German Wine Route .
- In the Rosengarten vineyard in the southern Palatinate village of Rhodt unter Rietburg , you will find the "oldest still supporting vineyard in the world". Its approximately 300 vines, the oldest of which were planted 400 years ago, are predominantly of the Gewürztraminer variety .
- The Herrenhof in Neustadt-Mußbach , a spacious and excellently restored estate, which once belonged to the Order of St. John (later called "Order of Malta") , is the oldest winery in the Palatinate . The founding documents go back to the 7th century.
- In the Historisches Museum der Pfalz zu Speyer , Weinmuseum department, the supposedly oldest liquid wine in the world is on display. The glass amphora comes from the Roman times in the 4th century and contains a yellowish translucent liquid.
- In 1931, a German wine-growing region, the Palatinate, selected a wine queen for the first time - Ruth Bachrodt from Pirmasens (where no wine grows at all). From 1937 to 1948, the Palatinate Wine Queen represented both Palatinate and German wine in general, without any additional choice.
- Even in 1949 there was only one election, but afterwards the Palatinate Wine Queen Elisabeth Kuhn, later Gies , from Diedesfeld was also chosen as the first German Wine Queen . She was the only official Palatinate and German wine queen in the same year.
- Since 1949, the German Wine Queen has been crowned in Neustadt every year.
- The Palatinate Wine Brotherhood was founded as the second such association (there are now more than three dozen) - on December 6, 1954 and thus only two months after the first ( Honorable Mainz Wine Guild of 1443 ). Through its forerunner organization Landsknechte der Weinstrasse , founded in 1939, the Palatinate Wine Brotherhood is even 15 years older.
See also
- Regional: Region Pfalz | Region Wine Route | German Wine Route | Wine festivals
- Subjects: Grapevine | Viticulture in Rhineland-Palatinate | Viticulture | Wine | White wine | Red wine | House vine
literature
- Meinrad M. Grewenig (Ed.): Mysterium Wein. The gods, the wine and the art . Verlag Hatje, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-7757-0621-6 (catalog for the exhibition in the Historisches Museum der Pfalz ).
- Cornelius and Fabian Lange: The Wine Lexicon . Verlag Fischer, 2003, ISBN 3-596-15867-2 .
- Matthias F. Mangold : The Palatinate in a glass . The guide to the best vineyards and cellars in the region. Höma Verlag, Offenbach bei Landau 2005, ISBN 3-937329-10-2 .
- Gert Oberste-Lehn: Palatinate wine stones. Theme and variations . Verlag Englram & Partner, Haßloch 2001, ISBN 3-926775-28-9 .
- Ludger Tekampe (Ed.): Wine Museum. Historical Museum of the Palatinate . Catalog for the permanent exhibition in the Historisches Museum der Pfalz. Speyer and Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-7757-0484-1 .
- Carina Zweck and Manfred Halfer: From the Musehelde to the Mäushöhle . The Palatinate vineyards. Origin and interpretation of their names. Ed .: Museum für Weinkultur e. V., Deidesheim (= writings on wine culture . Special issue). Deidesheim 1992.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b German Wine Institute : Statistics 2013–2014 . Mainz 2013 ( deutscheweine.de ( Memento from July 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 219 kB ]). Statistics 2013–2014 ( Memento of the original from July 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n According to the Wine Act § 8 in Rhineland-Palatinate approved grape varieties for the production of wine (Weinrechts-DVO-Rheinland-Pfalz Annex 3 to § 4a). DLR Rheinpfalz , June 21, 2017, accessed on July 29, 2017 .
- ↑ Viticulture: There is a stronger trend towards classic varieties . In: The Rhine Palatinate . Ludwigshafen November 13, 2010.
- ↑ a b c d e Pfalzwein e. V .: Palatinate Wine in Numbers ( Memento from October 3, 2003 in the web archive archive.today ), 2008.
- ↑ a b c d e f Chamber of Agriculture Rhineland-Palatinate , 2006.
- ↑ a b c Largest wine-growing company in the Palatinate . In: Die Rheinpfalz , local edition Bad Dürkheimer Zeitung . Ludwigshafen November 25, 2010.
- ↑ Gault Millau Wine Guide Germany 2012 . Christian-Verlag, Munich 2011, p. 539 .
- ↑ Vintner in the Association of German Prädikatsweingüter | http://www.vdp.de/winzer , accessed on April 2, 2018.
- ↑ 400 years of Gewürztraminer: The oldest vineyard in the world . In: The world . May 22, 2013 ( online [accessed April 29, 2020]).
- ^ Wolfgang Bartels, Norbert Lewandowski: Pfalz: Travel with insider tips . 5th edition. Mairs Geographischer Verlag, Ostfildern 2003, ISBN 978-3-8297-0305-5 , p. 79 .