Taubertal

Valley in Germany named after the river Tauber, where there are extensive vineyards or winegrowing. It stretches 130 kilometres from its source in Weikersholz, municipality of Rot am See, to where it flows into the Main in Wertheim (Baden-Württemberg). According to German wine law, it is divided into five sections, which are assigned to three different cultivation areas. The first vineyards downstream are in Franconia (Steigerwald area), the area between Tauberzell and Creglingen belongs to Württemberg (Kocher-Jagst-Tauber area), from Klingen to Tauberrettersheim again to Franconia ( Maindreieck area). The further downstream vineyards between Schäftersheim and Bad Mergentheim again belong to Württemberg. All the vineyards west of Mergentheim to Wertheim belong to the Baden wine-growing region, namely (although one should not be confused by the similarity of names) to the Tauberfranken area.

Both geologically and climatically, all the sections are very similar and, in the opinion of many viticultural experts, would actually justify a separate growing region. The reason for the fragmentation dates back to 1809, when the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) divided up the Tauber Valley among the powers allied with him against the Prussians. The most important grape varieties are Müller-Thurgau with about one third, Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier), Regent and Silvaner with about one fifth. The predominant soil type is shell limestone with loamy fine soils, as well as keuper upstream and mottled sandstone in the lower sites. The vineyards of the Tauber valley cover almost 1,000 hectares of vineyards in three growing regions, of which 670 hectares are in Baden, 90 hectares in Franconia and 225 hectares in Württemberg.

Image: by Presse03 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link