Hessische Bergstraße

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• Crystalline plutonic rocks from the Carboniferous were uplifted several thousand metres during the collapse of the Upper Rhine Graben in the Tertiary and today form the bedrock of the Bergstraße.
• Vineyard soils over plutonic solid rock occur as gabbro in Seeheim, as diorite and granodiorite in Gronau, Unter-Hambach, and Heppenheim, and as granite in Bensheim, Zwingenberg, and Auerbach.
• In the area around the Heppenheimer Starkenburg and the Hambacher Tal, the remnant of a Buntsandstein sandstone block has been preserved, whose vineyard soils consist of coarse-sandy sandstone weathering material.
• Klein- and Groß-Umstadt belong geologically to the northern crystalline Odenwald, with a bedrock of granite and granite-gneiss from the Upper Devonian, over which volcanic sheets of rhyolite were deposited during the Permian.
• The slopes of the Bergstraße are covered in their lower sections, toward the Rhine valley, by aeolian sands that give way, with increasing elevation, to sandy loess and then to loess.

• The mostly very small-scale structure and the steep sites limit the technical mechanisation of the vineyards, resulting in a greater requirement for manual labour.
• For Prädikat wines, the grower can exert a positive influence on grape composition through yield-restricting measures and partial leaf removal, while selective harvesting further enhances the quality of the crop.

• The wines bearing the geographical indication 'Hessische Bergstraße' display variety-typical aromatic and flavour notes, in some cases with high minerality.

• The large diurnal temperature variation during the ripening period extends that phase and has a positive effect on the development of aromas in the grapes.

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-A1268
• Official trade body site — Weinbauverband Hessische Bergstraße e.V.