Baden

Baden is a wine-growing region in Germany, with a vineyard area of 15.866 hectares it is the third-largest in Germany, and the most southerly. It stretches over a distance of more than 300 kilometres from Lake Constance along the plains of the upper Rhine via the Badische Bergstraße route and the Kraichgau region to Tauberfranken. Around 85% of the total vineyard area is worked by the members of around 100 wine co-operatives. They utilise the facilities of the huge central winery complex of the „Zentralkellerei Badischer Winzer", founded in 1952, which is one of the largest wine co-operatives in Europe. The large growing area is broken down into North Baden and South Baden Because of its unusually warm climate (for Germany), Baden is the only wine-growing region in Germany that is classified as being in EU climatic zone B, that puts it in the same zone as Alsace, Savoye and the Loire in France, Austria, too, is in the same zone (also see under wine laws).The south-facing slopes of the Kaiserstuhl mountain, an extinct volcano, in the vicinity of the two communes of Achkarren and Ihringen, are the warmest region in Germany. For this reason, excellent red wines are grown in South Baden. The city of Heidelberg lies in the North, with the oldest university in Germany, founded in 1386. The palace in Heidelberg houses the oldest wine barrel in the world. The well-known Badische Weinstraße wine route begins just north of the city, and leads visitors through the vineyards as far as Ortenau in South Baden. The Baden wine-growing region has been subdivided into nine sub-zones: Badische Bergstraße, Bodensee, Breisgau, Kraichgau, Kaiserstuhl, Markgräflerland, Ortenau, Tauberfranken and Tuniberg, with 15 large regional sites and 315 individual single vineyard sites.

Well-known wine-producing communes and their most important vineyard sites include Achkarren with ist Schlossberg; Bischoffingen with Enselberg and Steinbuck; Blankenhornsberg with Doktorgarten; Durbach with Plauelrain and Schlossberg; Freiburg with ist oenological institute; Ihringen with Doktorgarten and Winklerberg; Laufen with Altenberg; Müllheim with Pfaffenstück, Reggenhag and Sonnhalde; Neuweier with Mauerberg and Schlossberg; Oberbergen with Bassgeige; Oberrotweil with Eichberg, Henkenberg, Kirchberg and Schlossberg; as well as Ortenberg with the Andreasberg and Schlossberg sites. The soils consist of glacial gravel deposits near Lake Constance, tertiary marl, limestone and clay soils, huge loess deposits and volcanic soils on the Kaiserstuhl and in the Markgräflerland, as well as shell-limestone and keuper in the Kraichgau and Taubergrund.

Well-known producers include Aufricht, Augit, Bercher, Bercher-Schmidt, Dörflinger, Dr. Heger, Duijn, Fischer Otto, Freiburg#Freiburg (Germany), Freiherr von Gleichenstein, Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein, Heitlinger, Hofgut Consequence, Huber Bernhard, Hummel Bernd, Hunn, Johner, Keller Franz, Kiefer Friedrich, Klumpp, Knab, Kopp Ewald, Laible, Lämmlin-Schindler, Männle Andreas, Männle Heinrich, Marget, Nägelsförst, Pix, Reinecker, Rinklin, Salwey, Schätzle Gregor und Thomas, Schlör, Schlossgut Istein, Schloss Neuweier, Schloss Ortenberg, Schloss Staufenberg, Schneider Claus, Schneider Reinhold, Schlumberger Hartmut, Seeger Thomas, Staatsweingut Meersburg, Stigler, Wassmer Martin, Weber Werner, Weingut Stadt Lahr, Winzergenossenschaft Achkarren, Winzergenossenschaft Königschaffhausen, Zähringer Wilhelm and Ziereisen. Wines made from Pinot varieties are particularly typical of the region. Pinot Noir is the most widely planted variety, with one third of the vineyard area. In Germany, there are only two other regions in which red varieties dominate, the Ahr region and Württemberg. Speciality wines are Weißherbst („white autumn, i.e. blanc de noir), Badisch Rotgold (another variant of rosé) and Baden Selection.
Grape varieties planted (correct as at 2001):
Variety Synonyms Colour Hectares %-share
Pinot Noir Spätburgunder Red 5.290 33,3
Müller-Thurgau Rivaner White 3.779 23,8
Ruländer Grauburgunder White 1.466 9,2
Riesling Weißer Riesling White 1.309 8,3
Chasselas Gutedel etc. White 1.146 7,2
Pinot Blanc Weißburgunder White 1.046 6,6
Silvaner Grüner Silvaner White 297 1,9
Pinot Meunier Müllerrebe
Schwarzriesling Red 250 1,6
Traminer Roter Traminer White 203 1,3
Regent - Red 159 1,0
Kerner - White 137 0,9
Chardonnay - White 107 0,7
Dunkelfelder - Red 58 0,4
Bacchus - White 56 0,4
Scheurebe Sämling 88 White 45 0,3
Blauer Portugieser Portugieser Red 35 0,2
Dornfelder - Red 30 0,2
Blaufränkisch Blauer Limberger Red 28 0,2
Trollinger Blauer Trollinger Red 7 0,1
Perle - White 2 0,1
White varieties 9.847 62,1
Red varieties 6.019 37,9
TOTAL 15.866 100