Popular name (also Rheinterrasse) for a part of the German wine-growing region of Rheinhessen, which, however, has no meaning or justification in terms of wine law. It refers to the slopes on the left bank of the Rhine between the municipalities of Nackenheim in the north (Nierstein area) and Worms in the south (Wonnegau area). The common feature is the slopes, some of which are extremely steep and face south to south-east, and the proximity to the Rhine. A significant part of the Rhine front is the "Rote Hang" between Nackenheim and Nierstein. It is a five-kilometre-long, barely 200-metre-wide area formed by the collapse of the Rhine Graben. The wind-protected, sunny hillside location brings particularly favourable conditions for early vine blossoming and thus a long vegetation cycle and ripening period. The harvest of the Riesling grapes usually begins at the end of October and sometimes at the beginning of November.
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