The wine-growing region is located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and is named after the river of the same name. There are many preserved reminders of the Romans, who already cultivated wine here. The vineyards cover 4,237 hectares of vines along the river from Hunsrück to its confluence with the Rhine near Bingen. The Benedictine abbess Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) founded the Rupertsberg monastery near Bingen.

Climate & soil

The climate is mild and temperate with many hours of sunshine. The sheltered valley location and the surrounding low mountain ranges ensure warm summers and cool nights. The soils are very varied. The lower Nahe is dominated by quartzite and slate, while the middle Nahe is characterised by volcanic rocks such as porphyry and melaphyre as well as red sandstone. Weathered soils, sandstone, loess and loam are found around Bad Kreuznach.

Area, municipalities and locations

The Nahe Wine Route runs from Bingen in a large loop up the valley past Bad Kreuznach through all the wine villages, then westwards to Martinstein and through the Rosengarten back to Bingen. Until 1993, there were two areas, Bad Kreuznach and Schloßböckelheim. They were then merged to form the now single Nahe Valley area with the seven large vineyards Burgweg, Paradiesgarten, Rosengarten, Kronenberg, Sonnenborn, Schlosskapelle and Pfarrgarten, as well as 328 individual vineyards. Well-known municipalities with their individual vineyards are:

• Altenbamberg: Kehrenberg, Laurentiusberg, Rotenberg, Schlossberg, Treuenfels
• Bad KreuznachBerg, Brückes, Forst, Galgenberg, Gutental, Himmelgarten, Hinkelstein, Hirtenhain, Hofgarten, Höllenbrand, Honigberg, Hungriger Wolf, In den 17 Morgen, Junker, Kahlenberg, Kapellenpfad, Katzenhölle, Kauzenberg, Krötenpfuhl, Mollenbrunnen, Mönchberg, Narrenkappe, Nonnengarten, Osterhöll, Paradies, Römerhelde, Rosenberg, Rosenheck, St. Martin, Steinberg, Tilgesbrunnen, Vogelsang
• Bad Münster: Felseneck, Höll, Luisengarten, Rotenfelser im Winkel, Steigerdell
• Bingerbrück: Rupertsberg Abbey, Hildegardisbrünnchen, Römerberg
• Bosenheim: Hirtenhain, Paradies
• Bretzenheim: Felsenköpfchen, Hofgut, Pastorei, Schlossgarten, Vogelsang
• Bockenau: Felseneck, Stromberg
• Layen Castle: Hell, Johannisberg, Rothenberg, Schlossberg
• Cölln: Rosenberg, Seidenberg
• Dalberg: Ritterhölle, Schlossberg, Sonnenberg
• Desloch: Hengstberg, Vor der Hölle
• Dorsheim: Burgberg, Goldloch, Honigberg, Jungbrunnen, Klosterpfad, Leurenziweg, Nixenberg, Pittermännchen, Trollberg
• Ebernburg: Erzgrube, Felseneck, Feuerberg, Götzenfels, Höll, Köhler-Köpfchen, Königsgarten, Luisengarten, Rotenfelser im Winkel, Schlossberg, Stephansberg
• Eckenroth: Felsenberg, Hölle
• Guldental: Apostelberg, Hipperich, Hölle, Honigberg, Rosenteich, Sonnenberg, St. Martin, Teufelsküche
• Langenlonsheim: Bergborn, Königsschild, Lauerweg, Löhrer Berg, Rothenberg, St. Antoniusweg, Steinchen
• Laubenheim: Fuchsen, Hörnchen, Junker, Karthäuser, Krone, St. Remigiusberg, Vogelsang
• Meddersheim: Altenberg, Edelberg, Rheingrafenberg
• Monzingen: Frühlingsplätzchen, Halenberg, Rosenberg
• Münster-Sarmsheim: Dautenpflänzer, Kapellenberg, Königsschloss, Liebehöll, Pittersberg, Rheinberg, Römerberg, Trollberg
• Niederhausen: Felsensteyer, Hermannsberg, Hermannshöhle, Kertz, Klamm, Pfaffenstein, Pfingstweide, Rosenberg, Steinberg, Steinwingert, Stollenberg
• Norheim: Dellchen, Kafels, Kirschheck, Klosterberg, Oberberg, Onkelchen, Sonnenberg
• Oberhausen: Brücke, Felsenberg, Kieselberg, Leistenberg, Rotenberg
• Obermoschel: Geißenkopf, Langhölle, Silberberg, Sonnenplätzchen
• Oberndorf: Aspenberg, Beutelstein, Feuersteinrossel, Weißenstein
• Odernheim am Glan: Heßweg, Kapellenberg, Disibodenberg monastery, Langenberg, Montfort, Weinsack
• Planig: Katzenhölle, Nonnengarten, Römerhelde
• Roxheim: Berg, Birkenberg, Höllenpfad, Hüttenberg, Mühlenberg
• Rüdesheim: Goldgrube, Wiesberg
• Rümmelsheim: Steinköpfchen
• Schloßböckelheim: Felsenberg, Heimberg, In den Felsen, Königsfels, Kupfergrube, Mühlberg
• Schweppenhausen: Steyerberg, castle garden
• Sobernheim: Domberg, Johannesberg, Marbach, Spitalberg
• Sommerloch: Ratsgrund, Sonnenberg, Steinrossel
• Traisen: Bastei, Kickelskopf, Nonnengarten, Rotenfels
• Waldböckelheim: Drachenbrunnen, Hamm, Kirchberg, Königsfels, Kronenfels, Marienpforter Klosterberg, Muckerhölle, Mühlberg, Römerberg
• Wallhausen: Backöfchen, Felseneck, Höllenpfad, Johannisberg, Laurentiusberg, Pastorenberg
• Weiler near Monzingen: Heiligenberg, Herrenzehntel
• Windesheim: Fels, Römerberg, Rosenberg, Saukopf, Sonnenmorgen
• Winzenheim: Berg, Honigberg, Rosenheck

List of grape varieties

The Nahe wine combines the advantages of the fruity, racy Rhine wine with the sparkling Moselle wine. Mild temperatures and plenty of sunshine provide an excellent climate for the white wine varieties, which predominate with three quarters of the vineyard area. There were no major changes compared to 2009. The rising stars were Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The dominant variety, accounting for just under a third, is Riesling, followed by Müller-Thurgau and Dornfelder. Status 2018 (0 = less than 0.5 hectares):

Producers

Well-known producers in the Nahe growing region are Adelseck, Alt Eckhard & Holger, Anheuser Paul, Bamberger Heiko, Bürgermeister Schweinhardt, Disibodenberg, Dönnhoff Hermann, Dr Crusius, Edelberg, Emrich-Montigny, Emrich-Schönleber, Forster Georg, Grossarth, Finkenauer Anton, Gebrüder Kauer, Göttelmann, Graf-Binzel, Gut Hermannsberg, Hahnmühle, Hehner-Kiltz, Hexamer Helmut, Johanninger, Joh. Bapt. Schäfer, Korrell Johanneshof, Korrell Sebastian, Kruger-Rumpf, Lorenz & Söhne, Mathern, Mees Roland, Montigny Sascha, Pieroth, Prinz Salm, Racknitz, Rapp Walter, Reichsgraf von Plettenberg, Schäfer-Fröhlich, Schauß Erich, Schlossgut Diel, Schneider Jakob, Schömehl, Sinß Rudolf, Staatsweingut Bad Kreuznach, Tesch Martin and Weingut in den Zehn Morgen.