Nahe

Wine-growing region in Germany, named after the river of the same name. The total vineyard area is 4.387 hectares. Vineyards line the Nahe river from the Hunsrück mountains right up to ist confluence with the Rhine close to Bingen. Until 1993, the vineyards located in Bad Kreuznach and areas to the north were part of the district of the same name, while the other vineyards were part of the Schloßböckelheim district. Since then, the entire area has been consolidated in the single district Nahetal. This consists of seven regional sites: Burgweg, Paradiesgarten, Rosengarten, Kronenberg, Sonnenborn, Schlosskapelle and Pfarrgarten, as well as of a total of 312 single vineyard sites. Well-known wine-producing towns and villages, with their principle single vineyard sites are: Bad Kreuznach with Krötenpfuhl and Mönchberg; Bingen-Bingerbrück#Bingen with Abtei Rupertsberg and Hildegardisbrünnchen; Dorsheim with Goldloch and Pittermännchen; Langenlonsheim with Steinchen; Monzingen with Halenberg; Münster Sarmsheim with Dautenpflänzer and Pittersberg; Niederhausen with Hermannsberg, Hermannshöhle and Klamm; Norheim with Dellchen, Kafels and Kirschheck; Oberhausen with Brücke; Rüdesheim with Goldberg; Schloßböckelheim with Felsenberg, Kupfergrube and Mühlberg; as well as Traisen with its Bastei site.

A centre of wine in the Nahe wine-growing region is the town of Bad Kreuznach, which is also important as a spa; many relics of Roman times can be found here, showing that wine was grown here in ancient times. The Rupertsberg abbey was built close to Bingen by Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179). The popular Nahe wine route starts in Bingen, making a large loop up the valley past Bad Kreuznach and passing through all important wine-producing communes, then turns west as far as Martinstein and then through the rose garden back to Bingen. The soils on the lower Nahe consist of quartzite and slate, on the middle Nahe of porphyry, melaphyry and coloured sandstone, and of decomposed sandstone, loess and clay in the Bad Kreuznach area. Nahe wines combine the fruity, well-bred characteristics of Rhine wines with the freshy, racy character of Mosel wines. Mild temperatures and abundant sunshine provide an excellent climate in particular for white grape varieties, which account for more than 80% of the total vineyard area. The leading grape variety, with around a quarter of the vineyard area, is Riesling, which was only introduced in the late 19th century.

Well-known producers include, for example, Adelseck, Anheuser Paul, Bamberger Karl-Kurt, Bürgermeister Willi Schweinhardt Nachf., Dönnhoff Hermann, Dr. Crusius, Emrich-Schönleber, Finkenauer Anton, Göttelmann, Gutsverwaltung Niederhausen-Schloßböckelheim, Hahnmühle, Hexamer, Joh. Bapt. Schäfer, Johanninger, Klostermühle Odernheim, Korrell Johanneshof, Kruger-Rumpf, Mathern, Montigny Sascha, Prinz zu Salm-Dalberg´sches Weingut, Rapp Walter, Reichsgraf von Plettenberg, Racknitz, Schäfer-Fröhlich, Schauß Erich, Schlossgut Diel, Schneider Jakob, Sinß, Staatsweingut Bad Kreuznach and Tesch Martin. The plantings of varieties as per 2001:
Variety Synonyms Colour Hectares % share
Riesling Weißer Riesling White 1.127 25,7
Müller-Thurgau Rivaner White 788 18,0
Silvaner Grüner Silvaner White 378 8,7
Kerner - White 321 7,3
Dornfelder - Red 308 7,02
Bacchus - White 222 5,1
Scheurebe Sämling 88 White 209 4,8
Pinot Noir Spätburgunder Red 201 4,6
Pinot Blanc Weißburgunder White 149 3,4
Pinot Gris Ruländer, Grauburgunder White 136 3,1
Blauer Portugieser Portugieser Red 124 2,8
Faberrebe - White 71 1,6
Regent - Red 41 0,9
Huxelrebe - White 34 0,8
Chardonnay - White 29 0,7
Ehrenfelser - White 29 0,7
Ortega - White 22 0,5
Dunkelfelder - Red 22 0,5
Optima - White 21 0,4
Traminer Roter Traminer White 21 0,4
White varieties 3.642 83,0
Red varieties 745 17,0
TOTAL 4.387 100