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Rheingau

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The Prädikat and VDP ladders, eight Rheingau sites from Assmannshausen to Hochheim, then Riesling and Spätburgunder.

All levels85 min13 stepsAbout Rheingau

Part of Germany

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  1. Rheingau

    Region9 minWatch

    Start with the region, where the Rhine flows east to west and 90 percent of the vineyards face south.

  2. German Prädikatswein Classification

    Wine term9 minWatch

    Next, the Prädikat ladder, six levels of grape ripeness at harvest measured on the Oechsle scale.

  3. VDP Classification

    Wine term7 min

    Then the VDP pyramid, four tiers ranked by vineyard origin, from an association whose 1910 founding bodies included the Rheingau.

  4. Assmannshausen: Höllenberg (Pinot Noir, Rheingau)

    Region6 min

    Begin at Assmannshausen, where the Höllenberg grows Spätburgunder on purple phyllite slate in a side valley of the Rhine.

  5. Rüdesheim Berg (Berg Schlossberg, Berg Rottland, Berg Roseneck)

    Region6 min

    Then Rüdesheim Berg, the steepest site in the Rheingau: four VDP Grosse Lagen planted more than 90% to Riesling.

  6. Geisenheimer Rothenberg

    Region4 min

    Next, Geisenheimer Rothenberg, named for its red iron oxide soils and holder of a 340 Oechsle German must weight record from 2011.

  7. Hattenheim Steinberg

    Region5 min

    Then the Steinberg at Hattenheim, a 32.4-hectare walled monopole founded by Cistercian monks around 1170.

  8. Erbach: Marcobrunn (Rheingau Grosse Lage)

    Region7 min

    Next, Marcobrunn on the Erbach and Hattenheim boundary, where marl and loess-loam soils give fuller-bodied Riesling.

  9. Kiedricher Gräfenberg

    Region6 min

    Then Kiedricher Gräfenberg, Robert Weil's Riesling monopole in a sheltered side valley above Kiedrich.

  10. Rauenthal (Baiken & Gehrn)

    Region5 min

    Then Rauenthal in the Taunus foothills, where the Baiken and Gehrn vineyards sit at 135 to 300 meters over phyllite slate.

  11. Hochheim am Main

    Region7 min

    Finish at Hochheim am Main, the eastern edge of the Rheingau, on limestone-marl and loess-loam soils and the source of the word Hock.

  12. Riesling

    Grape6 minWatch

    Now the grapes, starting with Riesling, first recorded in 1435 and made in styles from bone-dry Trocken to noble-rot dessert wines.

  13. Pinot Noir

    Grape8 minWatch

    Then Pinot Noir, known in Germany as Spätburgunder, a thin-skinned grape that needs a cool climate.

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