The wine-growing region is located in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. The vineyards cover 23,554 hectares, making it the second largest wine-growing region in Germany after Rheinhessen. Until 1995 it was called Rheinpfalz, the current name (lat. Palatium = palace) is derived from the counts palatine of the Holy Roman Empire, who resided in the city of Heidelberg from the 13th to the mid-18th century.
History
The first evidence of viticulture long before the Romans can be found in Celtic graves dating back to 550 BC, which were found in Laumersheim and Bad Dürkheim. After the Romans withdrew from the area, viticulture was revitalised in the 7th century with the rise of the monasteries. In the 8th century, over a hundred wine-growing villages are already mentioned. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the first vineyard names appeared in this area, some of which have been preserved in the individual vineyard names to this day.
The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and subsequent warlike events caused by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation led to great devastation and a decline in viticulture. Around the middle of the 19th century, there was initially a new boom, but mildew and phylloxera caused another major slump by the end of the century. As a countermeasure, a fruit and viticulture school was founded in Neustadt an der Weinstraße in 1899 to promote research and systematically train winegrowers.
Modern times
After a chequered history, a crisis occurred in the 1970s, from which the Palatinate recovered in the 1980s and innovative winegrowers ensured dynamic further development, particularly with high-quality Rieslings. The Palatinate stretches 80 kilometres south of Worms to the French border north of Alsace and from the slopes of the Palatinate Forest to the Rhine plain.
Climate and soil
The climatic conditions for viticulture are ideal. There are dry, not too hot summers and mild winters. With around 1,800 hours of sunshine a year, the Palatinate is one of the warmest German wine-growing regions with an almost Mediterranean climate. The soils in the Haardt consist of a mixture of sand, loam, marl and clay. The soils on the Southern Wine Route are considered to be richer in nutrients and therefore heavier due to their higher clay content. In the Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstraße area, the soils are lighter and more permeable to water. Limestone soils dominate on the peripheral hills.
Areas, municipalities and sites
Viticulture is practised in a total of 144 Palatinate villages, mainly in the southern and front Palatinate on the western edge of the plain between the Rhine and the Palatinate Forest. Originally, the wine-growing region was divided into three parts from south to north: Oberhaardt, Mittelhaardt and Unterhaardt. In 1935, the German Wine Route was created as the first of its kind. It runs from Bockenheim in the north to Schweigen-Rechtenbach on the French border. Since 1969, the two Palatinate regions of Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstraße and Südliche Weinstraße, which are divided into a total of 25 large vineyards with 325 individual vineyards, have also been named after it.
Mittelhaardt-German Wine Route
The Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstraße area begins in the north on the border with Rheinhessen and stretches across the Zellertal, Grünstadt and Bad Dürkheim to Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Lighter and permeable loamy sand to sandy loam soils predominate here. Deep loess soils are mainly found on the hills and in the plain, where they are interspersed with loam and clay. The area is divided into 16 large vineyards: Feuerberg, Grafenstück, Hochmeß, Hofstück, Höllenpfad, Honigsäckel, Kobnert, Mariengarten, Meerspinne, Pfaffengrund, Rebstöckel, Rosenbühl, Schenkenböhl, Schnepfenflug von der Weinstraße, Schnepfenflug vom Zellertal and Schwarzerde. Well-known wine-growing communities with their individual vineyards are:
- Asselheim: Goldberg, Schloss, St Stephan
- Bad Dürkheim: Abtsfronhof, Bettelhaus, Fronhof, Fuchsmantel, Herrenberg, Herrenmorgen, Herzfeld, Hochbenn, Kalkofen, Kirchenstück, Michelsberg, Nonnengarten, Nussriegel, Osterberg, Rittergarten, Spielberg, Steinberg, Weilberg
- Bissersheim: Goldberg, Held, Orlenberg, Steig
- Böchingen: Rosenkranz
- Bockenheim/Weinstraße: Burggarten, Goldgrube, Hassmannsberg, Heiligen Kirche, Klosterschaffnerei, Schlossberg, Sonnenberg, Vogelsang
- Dackenheim: Kapellgarten, Liebesbrunnen, Mandelröth
- Deidesheim: Grainhübel, Herrgottsacker, Hohenmorgen, Kalkofen, Kieselberg, Langenmorgen, Leinhöhle, Letten, Mäushöhle, Nonnenstück, Paradiesgarten
- Diedesfeld: Berg, Johanniskirchel, Ölgässel, Paradies
- Dirmstein: Herrgottsacker, Jesuitenhofgarten, Mandelpfad
- Duttweiler: Kalkberg, Mandelberg
- Ellerstadt: Bubeneck, Dickkopp, Kirchenstück, Sonnenberg
- Erpolzheim: Goldberg, Kieselberg, Kirschgarten
- Forst: Bischofsgarten, Elster, Freundstück, Jesuitengarten, Kirchenstück, Musenhang, Pechstein, Stift, Ungeheuer (with Ziegler vineyard or cadastral site )
- Freinsheim: Goldberg, Musikantenbuckel, Oschelskopf, Schwarzes Kreuz
- Gimmeldingen: Biengarten, Kapellenberg, Mandelgarten, Schlössel
- Gönnheim: Klostergarten, Mandelgarten, Martinshöhe, Sonnenberg
- Großkarlbach: Burgweg, Im großen Garten (since 2014), Osterberg
- Haardt: Bürgergarten (Breumel in den Mauern), Herrenletten, Herzog, Mandelring
- Hambach: Römerbrunnen, Schloßberg
- Herxheim am Berg: Himmelreich, Honigsack, Kirchenstück
- Kallstadt: Annaberg, Kreidkeller, Kronenberg, Saumagen, Steinacker
- Kindenheim: Burgweg, Katzenstein, Sonnenberg, Vogelsang
- Kirchheim a. d. Weinstraße: Geißkopf, Kreuz, Römerstraße, Steinacker
- Königsbach: Idig, Jesuitengarten, Ölberg, Reiterpfad
- Laumersheim: Kapellenberg, Kirschgarten, Steinbuckel (called Mandelberg until 2009)
- Leisböhl: Haßloch
- Leistadt: Herrenmorgen, Herzfeld, Kalkofen, Kirchenstück (with Gewann or cadastral site Felsenberg)
- Meckenheim: Neuberg, Spielberg
- Mußbach: Bischofsweg, Eselshaut (with estates or cadastral sites Am Rothenstein, Beim Steinernen Bild, Dreißig Morgen), Glockenzehnt, Johannitergarten, Kurfürst, Spiegel
- Neuleiningen: Feuermännchen, Schlossberg, Sonnenberg
- Neustadt/Weinstraße: Biengarten, Bischofsweg, Bürgergarten, Erkenbrecht, Eselshaut, Gässel, Glockenzehnt, Grain, Herrenletten, Herzog, Idig, Jesuitengarten, Johanniskirchel, Johannitergarten, Kalkberg, Kapellenberg, Kreuzberg, Kroatenpfad, Kurfürst, Langenstein, Lerchenböhl, Mandelberg, Mönchgarten, Ölberg, Ölgässel, Paradies, Reiterpfad, Römerbrunnen, Schlossberg, Spiegel
- Niederkirchen: Klostergarten, Osterbrunnen, Schlossberg
- Obersülzen: Schnepp
- Ruppertsberg: Gaisböhl, Hoheburg, Linsenbusch, Nußbien, Reiterpfad, Spieß
- Sausenheim: Honigsack, Hütt, monastery garden
- Ungstein: Bettelhaus, Herrenberg, Michelsberg, Nussriegel, Osterberg, Weilberg
- Wachenheim: Altenberg, Belz, Bischofsgarten, Böhlig, Fuchsmantel, Gerümpel, Goldbächel,...
