The Rheingau is a wonderful region. Nearly 1000 kilometres from Basel to the Northsea the Rhine flows uninterrupted in a northerly direction.

With one short diversion: near Wiesbaden the river suddenly bends in almost a right angle to the west, turning again only 30 kilometres further on at Rüdesheim to continue its northerly flow. A whim of nature which geologically is easily explained:

The slopes of the Rheingau, part of the foothills of the Taunus range running from east to west obstruct the river´s flow forcing it to change direction. A whim of nature which created one of the most enchanting spots on earth one could imagine: the Rheingau.

From the right bank of the Rhine it stretches in a gentle ascent to the thickly wooded northern slopes of the Rheingau hills. An area hardly more than two to three kilometres wide and slightly over 30 kilometres in length. This is the home of the Rheingau Riesling considered by many to be the finest white wine in the world.

Thanks to the unique climatic conditions and geology here on the 50th parallel north even lemons and almonds can ripen.

But also thanks to the hard working and traditionalism of its people who soon realised that in the long run only quality succeeds.

For the sake of quality we and our collegues take great pains even putting up with financial disadvantages:

-- For example for almost 500 years they have continued to cultivate the traditional vine varieties     Riesling and Blauer Spätburgunder not changing over to the higher yielding new crossings.
-- They have voluntarily reduced the already small acreage of vineyards ( a total of only 3000     hectare ) and by appropriate pruning of their vineyards.
--Voluntarily restricted fertilising to the absolute minimum required in order to also maintain an intact     environment for future generations.
-- Voluntarily accept the highest must weight requirements in Germany laid down for this northern     area. Such quality consciousnesss has a long tradition here in the Rheingau. Also we shouldn´t     forget the monks who lived and worked here in the vineyard. For many centuries the monks took     over the pioneering work in the Rheingau. The monasteries of Eberbach and Johannisberg became     show places and introduced system to cultivation, winemaking and marketing.
    Revolutionary inventions and discoveries were made in the Rheingau which were and still are of     importance to viticulture throughout the world: such as the Spätlese or the Auslese, the Cabinet     cellar, the bottling of wine and many others.

Today practically every self-employed wine grower in the Rheingau if fully trained as either a winegrower´s assistant, master winegrower or viticultural engineer. Which means that Rheingau winegrowers possess the highest professional qualifications in Germany if not worldwide.

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The origin of the small berried Riesling remains as much a mystery as the origin of it´s name. First documentary mentioned is it´s planting in the year 1435. A certain Klaus Steinfisch noted in his accounts at the time the expenditure of 22 Solidi ‘ for Riesling vines to be planted in the vineyards’. Prior to this as for example documented by Kloster Eberbach there had been attempts over many years to replace the predominant red vines with white.
The reason being the monastery must obviously have experienced difficulty in competing with French red wines in the Cologne wine market. The only alternative one saw was to offer a good white wine with pronounced regional character.

In the early 17th century a real demand for Riesling developed:
-- 1601: The St. Stephanstift of Mainz decreed that     all uncultivated areas or plots for replanting within     their Schierstein vineyards had to be planted with     Riesling.
-- 1672: The St Clara Monastery of Mainz replaced     the red vines by Riesling on their Geisenheim     estates

The planting of the upto that time popular high yielding white variety Elbling became virtually prohibited. The final breakthrough for the Riesling was achieved when in 1716 the abbey of Fulda purchased the war ravaged Johannisberg monastery and had the present day castle built on the ruins. The vineyards were also replanted during the following five years. In 1803 at any rate the last cellarmaster of the abbey the Benedictine Father Otto Staab wrote : “no other grape variety except the Riesling grape may be used for winemaking in the entire Rheingau. “
Riesling accounted for 80 percent of all plantings by the second half of the last century.

But then a difficult period followed both for the Riesling and the Rheingau. Through degeneration the Riesling yield dropped continuously till it reached only 15 hectolitres per hectare. In addition there were a number of poor vintages. The Riesling proved like other varieties non resistant to phylloxera and oidium both of which had been brought in from America.

Furthermore after the First World War wines with low acidity suddenly became popular a phenomenon repeated following the Second World War. Around 1930 Riesling plantings fell to their lowest in the Rheingau with only 57 percent.

The outbreak of phylloxera and oidium led to the establishment of the School and Institue of Research in Geisenheim in 1872. Here they succeeded in cultivating phylloxera resistant rootstock of American origin following several years of research onto which they grafted scions of Riesling from German stock. The increase in productivity was achieved by so called Riesling clones i.e. individual vine propagation from especially high yielding plants. The Rheingau which had again increased its Riesling percentage by 1986 to over 80 % percent as a major customer.

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In November 1987 a Riesling from the Rheingau made headlines worldwide: At one of the regularly conducted auctions in Kloster Eberbach a unique bottle of
1735 “Johannisberger” from the private cellar of the Count von Schönborn achieved a price of € 27,098.47 ( DM 53.000,-- ).
This was alleged to be a new world recond for white wines. The previous record had been held by an 1893 “Neroberger Trockenbeerenauslese Cabinet” with “only”
€ 17.895,28 ( DM 35.000,-- ) followed by an 1893 “Steinberger Riesling Trocken-
beerenauslese Cabinett” at € 10.737,13 ( DM 21.000,-- ) and a 1921 “Erbacher Honigberg Riesling Goldbeerenauslese also at 10.737,13 (DM 21.000,--).

A wine is a living thing and behaves as such. It is created it develops it ages and it passes away. After it´s creation (pressing and fermentation) the wine initially shows all immaturity of its youth which it gradually loses.

One says the wine is maturing i.e. it´s characteristics develop according to it´s individual nature. Continuing to mature it eventually reaches it´s optimum. Once it´s prime is passed the wine gradually loses body. It develops signs of old age (becoming maderised and darker in colour) and eventually dies. As with other organisms this process can also vary considerable with wines.

According to certain conditions some wines should be drunk after three or four years, others should be stored for 10 to 15 years before being drunk whilst the third will remain drinkable for well over 100 years.

The following rule generally applies: wines with a high acidity are especially suitable for long storage whilst wines with low acidity should be drunk when young. This applies equally to Riesling and to the Spätburgunder. In addition: the higher it´s quality category ( Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese etc ) the longer it will keep. For the higher extract with a substantial proportion of acidity and sweetness guarantee a long wine life..

Rich in extract Rieslings achieve their optimal flavour for Spätlesen generally between 5 to 15 years, Auslesen between 10 to 50 years and for higher qualities such as Beeren - and Trockenbeerenauslesen between 20 to 100 years.

Another style is provided by the Riesling Eisweine. Thanks to their high acidity and high extract content they retain their fruit and youthful vigour for a long time. Though they may be drunk whilst young they age much more slowly than normally harvested wines. Their keeping potential is estimated to be twice to three times as long though final judgement can only be made by following generations because larger quantities of Eiswein have only be kept since the 1960´s.

However one should not be misled by the initially mentioned record making wines. The really great wines are very seldom harvested. A Kabinett or a good Qualitätswein from a vintage with pronounced acidity will also keep well and has the advantage that everyone can afford it. It is worthwile and provides a lot of pleasure watching it develop over a number of years. Though such wines may be drunk young their true charm really shows to advantage after 3 to 4 years. In any case it is certainly worthwile asking the winegrower about its keeping potential when purchasing his wine.

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