Middle Rhine Wines (4)

Less than 20 minutes south of Bonn, behind the foothills of the Siebengebirge, the Middle Rhine begins. Along the Rhine up to Bingen, travelers are revealed an incredibly balanced wine-growing region, with vineyards appearing both on the right and left of the river. It neither gets too hot nor too warm, thanks in part to the massive Rhine and the steep valley slopes that allow for a quick drainage of the cold night air after sunrise.

As so often - the Romans brought the vine

As so often, it was the Romans who brought viticulture. Koblenz and Neuwied were the first places where vineyards were established. After the Romans left Central Europe, the vineyard terraces fell into disrepair as well. Centuries later, in 643, the city of Boppard is mentioned for the first time, serving as a Frankish royal court and administrative center of the Boppard Empire.

Documents and charters from the Merovingian and Carolingian periods also show evidence of the vine in Rheinbrohl, Remagen, and Kestert. In the beginning, for viticulture in the Middle Rhine, it was not quality that mattered, but simplicity and quantity. This is why the first vineyards were also found in flat areas near the riverbanks.

Not without - the labor involved in steep slopes

Caring for and managing the steep slopes and terraces is certainly no easy task. That is also why the area that winemakers cultivate in the Middle Rhine has been declining for over 100 years. Around 1900, it was still almost 2200 hectares; by 2016, it was only 467.

The soils of the Middle Rhine - heartwarming

Apart from the climate, it is primarily the soil that makes the Middle Rhine wines so exceptional. In the Middle Rhine, the dominant soils are slate and graywacke, which soak up the sun during the day like a hot water bottle and release it at night. As if that were not already a lot of variety, volcanic soils, pumice, and tuff, but also loess, clay, and gravel soils join the terroir mix in the northern Middle Rhine.

A white affair - the world of grape varieties in the Middle Rhine

A staggering 85% of the vineyard area in the Middle Rhine is planted with white grape varieties. The standout star is, by far, the Riesling, followed by many other varieties in a distant second. Among them are

• Pinot Noir
• Müller-Thurgau
• White Burgundy
• Gray Burgundy
• Dornfelder
• Kerner
• Blue Portugieser
• Scheurebe
• Regent
• Chardonnay