Nahe

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 is much preserved evidence of the Romans, who already cultivated wine here. The vineyards cover 4,237 hectares of vines along the river from Hunsrück to the mouth of the Rhine at Bingen. Near Bingen, the Benedictine abbess Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) founded the Rupertsberg monastery. The soils consist of quartzite and slate on the lower Nahe, porphyry, melaphyre and red sandstone on the middle Nahe, and weathered soils, sandstone, loess and loam near Bad Kreuznach.

Area, communities 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 west to Martinstein and through the Rosengarten back to Bingen. Until 1993, there were two areas: Bad Kreuznach and Schloßböckelheim. Then they were merged into what is now the single Nahe Valley area. This consists of the seven large vineyards Burgweg, Paradiesgarten, Rosengarten, Kronenberg, Sonnenborn, Schlosskapelle and Pfarrgarten, as well as 328 individual vineyards. Well-known municipalities with their single 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: Shepherd's Grove, Paradise
• Bretzenheim: Felsenköpfchen, farm estate, pastor's house, castle garden, Vogelsang
• Bockenau: Felseneck, Stromberg
• Burg Layen: Hölle, Johannisberg, Rothenberg, Schlossberg
• Cölln: Rosenberg, Seidenberg
• Dalberg: Ritterhölle, Schlossberg, Sonnenberg
• Desloch: Hengstberg, Before Hell
• 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: Apostle Mountain, Hipperich, Hell, Honey Mountain, Rose Pond, Sun Mountain, St. Martin, Devil's Kitchen
• 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: Gold pit, Wiesberg
• Rümmelsheim: Little stone head
• Schloßböckelheim: Felsenberg, Heimberg, In den Felsen, Königsfels, Kupfergrube, Mühlberg
• Sobernheim: Cathedral Hill, 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 bei Monzingen: Heiligenberg, Herrenzehntel
• Windesheim: Fels, Römerberg, Rosenberg, Saukopf, Sonnenmorgen
• Winzenheim: Berg, Honigberg, Rosenheck

Grape varieties

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

Producers

Well-known producers 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 and Tesch Martin.