The winery is located in the municipality of Erbach in the German wine-growing region of Rheingau. In the 12th century, the ancestral seat of the Knights of Erbach stood on the site of today's castle. The subsequent owners were the Knights of Allendorf for over 400 years, who founded the winegrowing business in 1337. At the end of the 18th century, the property was taken over by the Barons Langwerth von Simmern and passed to the Counts of Westphalen in 1800. They built Schloss Reinhartshausen in its present form. In 1855, Princess Marianne of Prussia (1810-1883) took over the buildings and land, which remained in the possession of this family until 1987. After more than two decades of changing owners, the winery is now owned by the Lergenmüller family, which has been rooted in German viticulture for generations and also grows grapes in the Palatinate. Since 2013, the traditional winery has been managed by winemaker Stefan Lergenmüller. Norbert Weiß is responsible as field manager and Martin Vogel as cellar master.
The vineyards cover 64 hectares. Of these, 40 hectares are in the single vineyard sites Hohenrain, Marcobrunn, Schlossberg im Monopol and Siegelsberg (Erbach), as well as Nussbrunnen and Wisselbrunnen (Hattenheim). They are cultivated by hand. Neither grapes nor bulk wines are purchased. Around 80% are planted with Riesling, the rest with Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. During vinification, great importance is attached to typicality of origin.
The 4.5-kilometre-long Rhine island of Mariannenaue (a protected designation of origin since 2015) is the largest in the Rhine with a vineyard, covering 80 hectares. It is located in front of Schloss Reinhartshausen and extends westwards to the municipality of Hattenheim. The vineyards cover 24 hectares of vines on alluvial gravel and alluvial loam of the European nature reserve with special climatic conditions favourably influenced by the stream. They are planted with Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The winery produces around 350,000 bottles of wine annually.
© klickrhein, Frank Förster / Rheingau
