The "Hessische Staatsweingüter GmbH Kloster Eberbach", headquartered in the former Cistercian Abbey of Eberbach in the German wine-growing region of Rheingau, is the largest wine estate in Germany with around 220 hectares of vineyards. The majority of the vineyards can be traced back to monastic ownership to the 12th century, when the Cistercians founded the famous Eberbach Abbey here. In the abbey's heyday, its holdings covered almost 10,000 hectares, stretching from Worms to Cologne. This also included land on the Bergstrasse, which was cultivated via an estate directly under the control of Eberbach Abbey. In 1803, under Napoleon (1769-1821), the monastery property was secularised. The Duke of Nassau-Usingen became the new owner, from 1866 the Kingdom of Prussia and since 1946 the State of Hesse. The well-known wine author Dr. Hans Ambrosi (1925-1912) was director of the estate from 1966 to 1990. Today's managing director is Dieter Greiner. Today, festive events such as the annual auctions take place in the rooms of the monastery. The winery has three domains, each with its own wine cellar for ageing the wines.
The domain Bergstrasse is the only one in the Hessische Bergstrasse wine-growing region. The vineyards of this estate, founded in 1904 by the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, cover 38 hectares in the individual vineyards Kalkgasse (Bensheim), Centgericht and Steinkopf (Heppenheim), as well as Herrnwingert (Schönberg). Mainly Riesling, as well as smaller areas of Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris are cultivated.
In the Domäne Assmannshausen in the Rheingau, only red wine grapes are cultivated. It comprises 17 hectares in the single vineyard Höllenberg and 18 hectares in the Rüdesheimer Berg, which are exclusively planted with Pinot Noir. The Riesling grapes from the Rheingau vineyards cover 147 hectares. These are vinified in the Steinberg cellar of the Domäne Steinberg brought in. A large part of the Rheingau vineyards are classified as Erste Lage. The best known of these are Berg Rottland, Berg Roseneck and Berg Schlossberg (Rüdesheim), Steinberg (near Hattenheim), Marcobrunn (Erbach), Baiken and Gehrn (Rauenthal), Neroberg (Wiesbaden), and Domdechaney and Hölle (Hochheim).
The most important varieties are Riesling with 85% and Spätburgunder with 10% of the total area. To enable a slow and even fermentation, the temperature of the cooling water is regulated by a modern carbon dioxide control system. The Riesling is matured almost exclusively in stainless steel tanks, with only the top wines being matured in half barrels (600 l), single barrels (1200 l) and double barrels (2400 l). The Spätburgunder wines are matured 100% in wooden barrels, almost exclusively in single barrel size. Over 1.9 million bottles of wine are marketed annually. The winery is a founding member of the VDP.
Image: By Haffitt - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
