Assmannshausen: Höllenberg (Pinot Noir, Rheingau)

Spätburgunder was grown 500 years ago in the vineyards that today make up the Höllenberg, probably since 1470. In Assmannshausen, Spätburgunder has been grown since at least 1507; from 1740 "Klebroth", the Rheingau's name for Spätburgunder at the time, predominated on the Höllenberg, and since the 19th century the site has been planted almost exclusively with Spätburgunder. Kloster Eberbach traces its red wine tradition to the founding years of the abbey and says the Cistercians appreciated the Höllenberg 900 years ago. Decanter's Caro Maurer MW, citing Benjamin Lewin MW, notes evidence suggesting that Cistercian monks planted black grapes at Kloster Eberbach, founded in 1136, but no proof that these vines were Pinot Noir. A wine cellar at the foot of the Höllenberg has been dedicated entirely to maturing Spätburgunder since the 1920s.

• Decanter's Caro Maurer MW writes that the Höllenberg has been a source of great Spätburgunder through the ages, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when its Pinots rivalled those of Burgundy
• The first clear written reference to Klebrot, an early name for Pinot Noir, was reportedly made locally in 1470
• The history of Krone Assmannshausen, today part of Weingüter Wegeler, goes back to 1541, when the name first denoted an inn at the foot of the Höllenberg; the estate's cellar was cut 60 meters deep into the rock of the Assmannshäuser Frankenthal in 1860

Höllenberg lies largely on the slopes of the Eichbach valley, a side valley of the Rhine at Assmannshausen in the lower Rheingau. The vineyards face south and south-south-east at 140 to 160 meters, and a 45 percent gradient puts Höllenberg among the steepest sites in the Rheingau; the VDP's data table for the site, however, lists the orientation as SSW and the slope as 50 to 65 percent. Kloster Eberbach's Höllenberg vineyards lie in a valley cut facing away from the Rhine with a purely southern exposure, hot during the day and cool in the morning and evening hours thanks to the nearby Taunus mountains. Purple phyllite slate is typical of the site and gives the soils good heat-storage properties, while the Rhine keeps temperatures stable. Because of the steep slope, individual plots in Kloster Eberbach's vineyards are divided into terraces supported by stone walls.

• Kloster Eberbach describes the soil of the up to 65 percent steep vineyard as a very homogeneous violet phyllite slate, like that found at the Steinberg
• Weingut Künstler describes the vineyard soils as almost exclusively rocky earth with fine clay-laced granules of weathered slate and some loess
• Weingut Robert König describes steep red slate slopes of up to 60 percent, a south-westerly orientation and intense sunshine
• At Assmannshausen, in the lower Rheingau, the Rhine valley narrows and the vineyards become steeper

Spätburgunder is the Höllenberg's classified variety, and almost 100 percent of the Assmannshausen district's vineyards are planted with blauer Spätburgunder. Spätburgunder covers around 390 hectares in the Rheingau and is particularly well known in Assmannshausen. Kloster Eberbach attributes the character of its Höllenberg reds to stony slate soil and pronounced temperature swings, producing full-bodied wines with pronounced fruit and a fine acid structure, and credits gentle fermentation and ageing in traditional oak barrels for their potential to mature. Its 2021 Höllenberg GG came from vines averaging 31 years, was fully destemmed, fermented on the skins in open vessels and partly aged for 30 months in large wooden casks, reaching 12.5 percent alcohol. Weingut Künstler describes Höllenberg reds as rich, powerful and distinctive, with a trace of almonds and cassis.

• True-rooted vines from the Grand Cru Chambertin in Burgundy were planted in Krone Assmannshausen's prime Höllenberg plot in the 1960s, and the estate has decided to focus 100 percent on Pinot Noir
• August Kesseler's Pinot Noirs are almost all blends from VDP.Erste Lage and VDP.Grosse Lage sites marketed as VDP.Gutswein, and its Rieslings and Pinot Noirs always carry a little sugar
• Weingut Robert König's 2024 Höllenberg Spätburgunder had 18 days of maceration, including cold maceration and fermentation, and matured for 18 months on the fine lees in used French barriques

VDP member estates working in the Höllenberg include Familie Allendorf and Balthasar Ress. Kloster Eberbach runs its Domäne Assmannshausen here and bottles both a VDP.Erste Lage Assmannshäuser Im Höllenberg Spätburgunder, from the "Im Höllenberg" plot that it calls the original plot of the Höllenberg, which gave the entire vineyard its name, and a Höllenberg Spätburgunder GG. The August Kesseler estate, which originates in Assmannshausen, calls the Höllenberg world-famous and makes an Assmannshäuser Höllenberg GG; August Kesseler took over the family business at 19, when it covered only 2.5 hectares. Krone Assmannshausen became a cooperation partner of Weingüter Wegeler in 2007 and was fully integrated into the Wegeler estates in 2014. Weingut Künstler has 0.4 hectares in the Höllenberg, and Weingut Robert König, with 13 generations of Spätburgunder from Assmannshausen, works eight parcels spread across the vineyard.

• Richard Grosche of Krone Assmannshausen told the VDP that the Höllenberg is perhaps the most important historic site for Pinot Noir in Germany, and named the estate's Höllenberg VDP.Grosses Gewächs as the wine he is particularly proud of
• Krone's Assmannshäuser VDP.Ortswein comes almost exclusively from the Höllenberg, mostly from somewhat younger vineyards, which makes it accessible earlier than the estate's VDP.Grosses Gewächs
• According to the Kesseler estate, August Kesseler helped to change the international perception of German Pinot Noir, particularly with his Spätburgunders from the Assmannshäuser Höllenberg

Höllenberg is a VDP.Grosse Lage with Spätburgunder as its classified variety. The VDP classification is not stipulated in German wine law but reflects the VDP's own private regulations. Under those rules, VDP.Grosse Lage yields are limited to a maximum of 50 hectoliters per hectare, grapes are harvested selectively by hand, and dry wines from these sites are called VDP.Grosses Gewächs. Red GGs mature one year longer than the whites, at least 12 months of that in oak barrels, and are not released until September 1 of the second calendar year following harvest.

• Assmannshäuser Im Höllenberg is a VDP.Erste Lage, alongside the VDP.Grosse Lage Höllenberg
• Assmannshäuser Frankenthal and Assmannshäuser Hinterkirch are VDP.Erste Lagen
• The classified area of the Höllenberg is 8.00 hectares, against the 44 hectares that Weingut Künstler gives as the vineyard's total area

There are several ways to experience the Höllenberg in person. Richard Grosche of Krone Assmannshausen told the VDP that he loves the view over Assmannshausen and onto the Rhine from directly below the "Assmannshäuser Höllenberg" sign.

• During the summer season, visitors can reach the August Kesseler estate by chairlift from the Niederwald monument in Rüdesheim, past the Höllenberg and down to Assmannshausen
• Once a year, always in November, Kloster Eberbach opens its Domäne Assmannshausen building and its 100-year-old wine cellar at the foot of the Höllenberg for tastings of its Pinot Noirs
• Goethe, in fact a white-wine drinker, reportedly praised the red wine from these vineyards on a journey along the Rhine in 1814

Primary sources (the VDP, the Deutsches Weininstitut and the named producers' own sites): https://www.vdp.de/de/die-weine/weinbergonline/lage/7068-hoellenberg, https://kloster-eberbach.de/en/wein/weingut/domaene-assmannshausen, https://kloster-eberbach.de/de/wein/weingut/domaene-assmannshausen, https://www.weingut-kloster-eberbach.de/2021-HOELLENBERG-Assmannshausen-Spaetburgunder-GG-VDP.GROSSE-LAGE/62501-21, https://www.vdp.de/en/die-winzer/rheingau/vdpweingut-krone-assmannshausen, https://www.wegeler.com/weingueter, https://www.weingut-kuenstler.de/en/vineyards/assmannshausen/hoellenberg.html, https://www.august-kesseler.de/unser-weingut/, https://www.august-kesseler.de/unsere-lagen/, https://www.august-kesseler.de/unsere-weine/, https://www.weingut-robert-koenig.shop/pages/hoellenberg, https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-regions/growing-area/69/rheingau, https://www.vdp.de/en/the-wines/classification. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/premium/spatburgunder-12-fantastic-german-pinot-noirs-to-track-down-479990/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/germany/rheingau/kloster-eberbach-crescentia-im-hoellenberg-erste-lage-101863/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/germany/rheingau/kuenstler-assmannshaeuser-hoellenberg-spaetburgunder-grosses-24127. Last verified 2026-10-05