Rheinhessen

In the north, the Nierstein sub-region extends as far as the city of Mainz, founded by the Romans in 38 B.C. While the city itself is most impressive, the wines produced here are generally mediocre. Only the Weingut der Stadt, owned by the city, produces a few attractive wines from the Mainzer St. Alban site.
The heart of the region is the so-called "Rheinfront", which stretches from Nackenheim to Schwabsburg. Here the most famous vineyard sites of Rheinhessen are strung out along the steep slopes of the Rote Hang (red slope) mountain. The decomposed red slate that gave the mountain its name provides the wines produced here with a firm mineral structure, as well as an extrmely juicy and silky acidity. These two characteristics predestine these sites for the production of first-rate dry Rieslings, and the reputation of most of the wineries located here is based on just this style of wine. The only notable exception is the Gunderloch estate in Nackenheim. Although excellent dry wines are also produced here from the Nackenheimer Rothenberg vineyard, this producer has achieved world renown for his sweet botrytis wines.
To the south of the Rothenberg site lies the Niersteiner Pettental vineyard. Together these two sites make up the steepest section of the Rote Hang. Both face almost exactly due east, and benefit from being located directly on the Rhine, which reflects heat onto the slopes. This is evident in the full-bodied, juicy style of wines produced by the two sites.
Probably the most privileged piece of vineyard land on the Rheinfront is the Niersteiner Brudersberg, exclusively owned by Heyl zu Herrnsheim. The unique feature is a small indentation in the slope between Hipping and Pettental, which makes this the only site facing due south, and yet also located directly on the Rhine. As in many other areas, the land enclosure reforms were only completed here in the Mid-Eighties, so that until recently the vines have been too young to reflect the full potential of the excellent Brudersberg site. This will certainly change in the next few years, particularly since the new owners of the estate have shown that they will continue the quality philosophy of Peter von Weymarn without any compromises. It was von Weymarn who, as a member of the commission setting up the new boundaries within the land reform process had ensured that the tiny Brudersberg site was retained as a separate single vineyard, and was not incorporated in the larger Pettental site.
The best of the top vineyard sites located directly above the Rhine river is the Niersteiner Hipping, including the Goldene Luft site, which it surrounds completely. The slope here is generally not quite as steep as it is further north, and the wines produced are a little lighter, and not quite as firmly structured as those of the Brudersberg, Pettental or Rothenberg sites. At Nierstein the Rote Hang takes a turn to the south-west, in the direction of Schwabsburg. Here you will find, in this order, the top vineyard sites Ölberg, Heiligenbaum and Orbel. While the Ölberg is equally suited for the production of both dry sweet wines full of character and expression, the Heiligenbaum and Orbel sites are a little further away from the Rhine, and their racy acidity means they are predestined for the production of naturally sweet wines. Apart from Heyl, look to Alex and Ute Michalski of the St. Antony estate for an optimum expression of Nierstein vineyard potential. A number of other producers can occasionally produce good and even excellent wines, but is not yet sufficiently consistent to be counted among the really top producers.
Oppenheim has two top vineyard sites, the Herrenberg and Sackträger, whose soil structure differs completely from that of the Rote Hang. Here marl, loess, and clay determine the picture, often on a sub-soil of limestone. These soils are significantly more fertile, which can be a disadvantage in particularly wet years, whereas they are better suited to cope with the stresses of dry years, which occur quite frequently in this area. Thus, in most years the Sackträger is equal to the best sites of Nierstein and Nackenheimer, and in exceptionally dry years is clearly the superior site. The wines generally show much more power and tropical fruit than do those of the competitors to the north. However in recent years there has not really been any producer capable of fully realising the potential of the top Oppenheim sites.
A little further south are the villages of Dienheim, Ludwigshöhe, Uelversheim and Guntersblum, which also have at least some vineyard slopes facing the Rhine. Many of the vineyards have been bracketed together in the large Tafelstein site. The best parcels of this site can compete easily in terms of potential quality with the Oppenheimer Sackträger site. Reliably good, and sometimes even very good or excellent, wines have in recent years come mainly from the cellars of Brüder Dr.BeckerKissinger1233Manz1265Dirk Würtz#1571# of Gau-Odernheim (he was formerly cellarmaster at Robert Weil in Kiedrich/Rheingau, and made his first own wines from bought-in, ecologically grown grapes in 2001) has set completely new standards of quality right from the word go.
In the hinterland of this region, far distant from the direct climatic influence of the Rhine, vineyards alternate with other agricultural products. Neither the vineyards nor the wines here are spectacular, but the interested observer will nevertheless note that here, too, the past few years have seen an increase in the number of dedicated producers making ever better wines at very reasonable prices.

(translation by Peter Gebler)