Owner: Fürst von Metternich GbR Manager: Christian Witte Managing director: Christian Witte Cellar master: Hans Kessler
Cultivated area: 35.00 ha
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The world-famous „Weinbau-Domäne Schloss Johannisberg“ is located in the castle of the same name at the famous Johannisberg site in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany. It is owned by the Oetker group of companies, which is mainly active in the food industry. Legend has it that Charlemagne (742-814 AD) was the first to establish a vineyard at Johannisberg. Benedictine monks from Mainz built an abbey on the plateau of the Bischofsberg hill above the current suburb of Johannisberg between 1096 and 1100 AD, and were involved in viticulture there. The basilica of „John the Baptist“ was consecrated in 1130 AD, giving the abbey and the commune its name. The abbey and most of the vineyards were destroyed in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). Constantine, prince abbot of Fulda, purchased the remnants from Butlar in 1716, had all the buildings except fort he church and the cellar demolished, and has the imposing Baroque palace built in its place. A huge cellar with a total length of 250 metres was added to the old cellar in 1721. At that time it was common practice in the Rheingau region to plant several varieties of grapes in the same vineyard, i.e. a vineyard blend, this included such historical vaireties as Elbling and Orléans. The prince abbot had the vineyard blend of varieties on the south-facing slope uprooted in 1720, and had the site replanted exclusively with Riesling vines. This made the variety even more popular, and encouraged its spread, it also became known as „Johannisberg Riesling“. Cuttings from the Johannisberg were highly prized on all the continents, and many a vine in Australia, South Africa and the USA can trace its origins to this vineyard. The Rheingau region was occupied by the French during the Napoleonic Wars, and the palace as well as the vineyards were secularised in 1806. Emperor Napoleon (1769-1821) gave the estate to his marshal François-Étienne-Christophe Kellermann (1735-1820), the duke of Valmy, as a present. He sold the entire harvest of the famous 1811 vintage to Gottlieb Mumm (1782-1852), providing the base for what is now the G.H. von Mumm estate.
The German poet and wine lover Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) wrote about the Johannisberg: „Mon Dieu, if I had such a strong faith that I could move mountains, then the Johannisberg would be just the mountain I would have follow me everywhere“. Many other famous persons loved the Johannisberg wines, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), who was served a Johannisberg Cabinet of the 1748 vintage on his 66th birthday, the author of „The Last of the Mohicans“ James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) and German emperor Wilhelm II. (1859-1941). Goethe visited the palace in 1814 and wrote: „The Johannisberg sits right at the top. The magnates have no argument about their ranking. Hochheimer, Johannisberger and Rüdesheimer simply accept each other, it is only among the lesser gods that envy and jealousy reign“. After a visit to the Rhine in 1788, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), later to bet he president of the United States, writes in a letter: „Break your journey in Rüdesheim and at the Johannisberg abbey, and investigate the vineyards and the wines there, the latter ist he best produced anywhere on the Rhine, it is incomparable and costs about as much as the oldest Hochheimer. The 1775 vintage is the best“. The story of the famous late harvest rider (Spätlesereiter), a sculpture of whom stands in the courtyard of the estate, took place at Johannisberg in the same year. All the vintages after 1788 were bottled, and precise filling lists with sources, bottle prices and filling volumes were maintained. The monks increased their efforts to pick selectively, and to systematically produce Spätlese and Auslese wines. Legend has it that the first Eiswein in history was picked here in 1858.
After the great batttle at Leipzig from the 16th to the 19th of October 1813, which resulted in the defeat of Napoleon, the estate was jointly administered by Austria, Prussia and Russia from 1813 to 1815. As a desult of the negotiations at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) it then became the property of the Austrian emperor Francis I. (1768-1835), who in turn presented it as a gift to prince Klemens Wenzel Lothar Graf Metternich-Winneburg (1773-1859) as a reward for his efforts in restoring peace in Europe, with the proviso that the Habsburg family or their legal heirs or successors should receive 10 per cent of the profits annually. This stipulation is still in place, with the Auustrian state benefiting from the proceeds. The castle was bombed and almost totally destroyed in 1942. The great-grandson of state chancellor Paul Alfons Metternich rebuilt it in its old glory, with completion in 1965. The descendants of the Metternich family still reside in the palace, the estate is owned by a company, the „Fürst von Metternich GbR“, the general manager is Christian Witte and the cellar master is Hans Kessler (both of these are also responsible for the G.H. von Mumm estate located close by). At the end of 2001, many dignitaries attended the 900th anniversary of the founding of the estate at Schloss Johannisberg.
The vineyard area amounts to 38 hectares in the monopole vineyard site Schloss Johannisberg, which lies below the castle or palace. In administrative terms, Schloss Johannisberg is a separate suburb of the commune of Geisenheim, which means that it is permitted, in terms of the wine law of 1971, to use the name of the site without mentioning any additional town or commune. The soil consists of stones, loess and clay on a sub-soil of Taunus quartzite. A special feature is that the 50th parallel (degrees latitude) runs through this vineyard site, a line generally considered to be the most northerly limit for commercial wine production. However, the outstanding microclimate prevailing means that figs, almonds as well as lemons can be grown here. Whole bunch pressing is implemented in the cellar, followed by slow, cool fermentation. Differeently coloured capsules and labels designate the various levels of quality. These are yellow for basic quality wine, red for Kabinett, green for Spätlese, pink for Auslese, pink and gold for Beerenauslese, gold for Trockenbeerenauslese and blue for Eiswein. The sweet Reisling wines are among the best in the range. The 1996 Eiswein is described as the wine of the century, this was picked during a sharp frost in freezing conditions on the morning of the 26th December, at a must weight of 180 °Oechsle and 18,9 g/l of acid. Annual production is around 260.000 bottles of wine. The Fürst von Metternich sparkling wine brand is produced from base wines grown on Schloss Johannisberg.
The vintage 2006
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