single vineyard in the municipality of Rüdesheim on the Rüdesheimer Berg in the German wine-growing region of Rheingau. The name refers to Ehrenfels Castle, which was built in 1211; the vineyards were planted around the same time. For a long time, they were owned by the Electorate of Mainz. After an arduous climb up the steep terraces, the ruins of the castle, which was destroyed in 1689, offer a unique viewpoint of the bend in the Rhine known as the "Binger Loch". From here, the four wine-growing regions of the Middle Rhine, Nahe, Rheingau and Rheinhessen can be seen in a panoramic view. Until the end of the 1960s, the terraces, which used to be extremely narrow and steep, could only be cultivated with painstaking manual labour. In the years 1970 to 1985, the land was reorganised, roads were built and larger areas were created between extensive terrace walls.
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The glossary is a monumental achievement and one of the most important contributions to wine knowledge. Of all the encyclopaedias I use on the subject of wine, it is by far the most important. That was the case ten years ago and it hasn't changed since.
Andreas Essl
Autor, Modena