Saar wine
As Saar wine is called in Germany to the lower reaches of the Saar produced quality wine that the wine-growing region Moselle in Rhineland-Palatinate belongs. Until spring 2007 the wine-growing region was called "Mosel-Saar-Ruwer", since then it was only called "Mosel".
The wine produced in the only wine-growing region in Saarland , on the other hand, is a Moselle wine ; it grows on the Upper Moselle in the area of the large municipality of Perl .
The Saar wine is grown downstream in the wine-growing communities of Serrig , Saarburg , Irsch , Ockfen , Ayl , Schoden , Wiltingen , Kanzem and Wawern , as well as in the area of the town of Konz at the mouth of the Saar and the Moselle , to which the wine towns of Filzen and Könen as well the dry valley running parallel to the Saar between Konz and Wiltingen - a former arm of the ancient Moselle - the so-called Konzer valley , with the wine-growing communities of Niedermennig , Obermennig , Krettnach and Oberemmel .
The Saar wine, mostly Riesling wines , is grown on a total of 1,480 hectares, often on steep slopes with up to 55 degrees. Only about half of the area under cultivation is still cultivated today. Nevertheless, the rather pale-colored Riesling wine produced here is one of the most important white wines in Germany in terms of quality . The exceptional climatic and soil conditions in the lower Saar valley are responsible for this. In addition to the climatic conditions, especially the blue gives Devon - slate on which the vines grow, the Saar wine its distinctive character. Experts consider the Riesling wines produced here to be among the greatest white wines in the world. In addition, u. a. the grape varieties Blauer Spätburgunder , Dornfelder , Grauer Burgunder , Kerner , Rivaner and Weißer Burgunder are grown.
The comparatively cool climate delays the ripening process, so that the Riesling grape can reach its full degree of ripeness until November with a relatively high proportion of natural fruit acids, even without the formation of a high proportion of sugar . The Riesling Saar wines can therefore be stored for a particularly long time and only rarely have an alcohol content of more than 12% by volume.
Wine has been grown on the Saar for 2000 years. Most of the good vineyards were owned by the church until around 1800. In the course of the secularization at the beginning of the 19th century, many properties passed into private hands. But even today church wineries , such as the Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier in the nearby city of Trier , manage some of the most famous vineyards on the Saar.
See also
literature
- Wolfgang Pass: The Saar and its wines. In: WINE comprehensible ; 186 pages, October 2008 ( PDF; 32 kB )
- Michael H. Schmitt: Where King Riesling holds court - A companion to the most beautiful vineyards on the Saar ; 294 pages, Conte Verlag, October 2012, ISBN 978-3-941657-67-0 (With a foreword by Kurt Beck)