Ahr

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The wine-growing area lies in the Rhenish Slate Mountains in the northern eastern Eifel, along an approximately 18 km stretch of the Ahr between Altenahr and Bad Neuenahr.
• The valley floor lies at approximately 150 m above sea level in the west and approximately 100 m above sea level in the east, with steep to very steep valley slopes of 150 to 200 m in height.
• 69 percent of the vineyard area has a slope gradient of more than 30 percent, while the eastern part of the appellation is predominantly characterised by gently sloping sites and levelled surfaces of the higher river terraces.
• The northern limb of the Ahr anticline consists predominantly of sandstones (greywackes) and, to a lesser extent, clay slates of the Upper Middle Siegen stage from the Lower Devonian.
• In the eastern part of the appellation, the rocks occur predominantly as deeply weathered, semi-consolidated to loose, and frequently variegated saprolite, while vineyard sites on gravels, loam, and thick loess or loess-loam are also widespread.
• The climate shows mean annual daily average temperatures of 9.8 °C, an average annual precipitation of 650 mm, and approximately 1,450 hours of sunshine.

• The documented history of viticulture in the Ahr valley dates back to the 8th century, when a vineyard near Remagen was donated to a monastery in present-day Belgium in 755. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Due to the small-scale structure and the steep sites, mechanical mechanisation of the vineyards is limited, so that their maintenance requires a high level of manual labour.

• The dominant slate and greywacke soils impart a pronounced minerality to the wines, which also display fine yet clearly defined aromatic and flavour notes typical of their grape varieties.
• Ahr wines are predominantly vinified dry, with the proportion of dry wines reaching 63.9 percent in 2020, while off-dry wines accounted for 25 percent. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Germany

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-DE-A0867
• Official trade body site — Ahrwein e.V.