Württemberg

The wine-growing region is located in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The vineyards cover 11,461 hectares of vines, stretching between Lake Con stance and the valley of the Tauber below Rothenburg (Taubergrund). The geographical and climatic conditions are shaped by many river valleys. On its very winding course, the tributaries Rems, Enz, Kocher and Jagst flow to the Neckar. Along the riverbanks are many south-facing slopes with widely spaced vineyards. In summer there is enough sun to give red wines strength and colour. Two thirds of the vineyards are steep slopes or hillside sites. Heilbronn is the wine capital of Württemberg and, to a certain extent, of Germany, because the DLG (German Agricultural Society) competition is held here every year. Weinsberg is home to a teaching and research institute for vine breeding, where August Herold (1902-1973) created several successful new varieties such as Dornfelder, Cabernet Cubin, Cabernet Dorio and Cabernet Dorsa.

Climate and soil

The soils are characterised by Keuper formations and, on the middle Neckar, by shell limestone islands. The climate is continental, with hot summers, sunny autumns and frosty winters. The favourable microclimate along the Neckar and the shell limestone and Keuper soils are particularly suitable for red wines.

Areas, communities and sites

The wine-growing region consists of six areas with 17 large vineyards and 207 individual vineyards. The Kocher-Jagst-Tauber area, named after three rivers, lies in the north and is the only one to specialise in white wines. It is divided into two major vineyards, Kocherberg and Tauberberg. The Tauber Valley contributes the section from Tauberzell to Creglingen, the rest belongs to other growing areas. The predominant soil type is shell limestone. Well-known wine-growing communities with their single vineyards:

• Bieringen: Schlüsselberg
• Criesbach: Burgstall, Hoher Berg
• Dörzbach: Altenberg
• Elpersheim: Mönchsberg, Probstberg
• Herbolzheim: Hofberg
• Ingelfingen: Hoher Berg
• Kochersteinsfeld: Rosenberg
• Laudenbach: Schafsteige
• Markelsheim: Mönchsberg, Propstberg
• Niedernhall: Altenberg, Burgstall, Engweg, Hoher Berg
• Reinsbronn: Röde
• Schäftersheim: Klosterberg
• Weikersheim: Hardt, Karlsberg, Schafsteige, Schmecker

By far the largest and most important area of Württembergisch Unterland is divided into the nine large vineyards of Heuchelberg, Kirchenweinberg, Lindelberg, Salzberg, Schalkstein, Schozachtal, Stauffenberg, Stromberg and Wunnenstein. The vineyards are mainly located in the middle and lower Neckar valley, as well as strongly fragmented into many small areas east of the Neckar along the tributaries Bottwar, Murr and Schozach. The climatic conditions and the soils are somewhat different in this area. The terraced vineyards along the river banks are characterised by shell limestone, those away from it by Keuper. Well-known wine-growing communities with their single vineyards are:

• Abstatt: Burgberg, Burg Wildeck, Sommerberg
• Beilstein: Steinberg, Wartberg
• Besigheim: Felsengarten, Wurmberg
• Bönnigheim: Kirchberg, Sonnenberg (Schupen and Steingrüben vineyards)
• Brackenheim: Dachsberg, Mönchsberg, Schlossberg, Wolfsaugen, Zweifelberg
• Bretzfeld: Goldberg, Himmelreich
• Cleebronn: Michaelsberg
• Dimbach: Himmelreich
• Ellenhofen: Ranzenberg, Wildenberg
• Erlenbach: Kayberg
• Flein: Altenberg, Eselsberg, Sonnenberg
• Güglingen: Kaiserberg
• Gündelbach: Steinbachhof, Wachtkopf
• Gundelsheim: Himmelreich
• Häfnerhaslach: Heiligenberg
• Heilbronn: Sonnenberg, Stahlbühl, Stiftsberg (Klinge district), Wartberg
• Hessigheim: Felsengarten, Wurmberg
• Hohenbeilstein: Schlosswengert (castle vineyard)
• Hohenhaslach: Kirchberg, Klosterberg
• Höpfigheim: Königsberg
• Illingen: Forstgrube, Halde, Schanzreiter
• Ilsfeld: Rappen
• Kleinbottwar: Götzenberg, Lichtenberg, Oberer Berg, Süßmund
• Lauffen: Jungfer, Katzenbeißer, Riedersbückele
• Lehrensteinsfeld: Steinacker
• Löwenstein: Sommerberg, Wohlfahrtsberg
• Ludwigsburg: Neckarhälde
• Maulbronn: Closterweinberg, Eilfingerberg, Reichshalde
• Mühlhausen: Halde, Steinhalde, Zuckerle
• Mundelsheim: Käsberg, Mühlbächer, Rozenberg
• Neckarsulm: Scheuerberg
• Neckarzimmern: Götzhalde, Kirchweinberg, Wallmauer
• Neipperg: Grafenberg, Schlossberg, Steingrube
• Nordheim: Grafenberg, Gräfenberg, Sonntagsberg
• Oberderdingen: Kupferhalde
• Oberstenfeld: Forstberg, Lichtenberg
• Schozach: Red mountain, Schelmenklinge
• Schützingen: Heiligenberg
• Schwaigern: Grafenberg, Ruthe, Sonnenberg
• Siebeneich: Himmelreich
• Spielberg: Liebenberg
• Steinheim: Burgberg
• Talheim: Hohe Eiche, Schlossberg, Sonnenberg, Stiftsberg
• Vaihingen: Halde
• Verrenberg: Goldberg, Verrenberg
• WeinsbergRanzenberg, Schemelsberg
• Willsbach: Dieblesberg
• Zuffenhausen: Berg

The Remstal-Stuttgart area lies in the south-east of the wine-growing region. The vineyards are mainly situated up to 400 metres above sea level in the Rems river valley. It is divided into five major vineyards: Hohenneuffen, Kopf, Sonnenbühl, Wartbühl and Weinsteige. There is a certain Riesling tradition in the area, which is somewhat cooler and has more precipitation. Well-known wine-growing communities with their single vineyards are:

• Bad Cannstadt: Berg, Halde, Herzogenberg, Mönchberg, Mönchhalde, Zuckerle.
• Beutelsbach: Altenberg, Burghalde, Sonnenberg
• Breuningsweiler: Haselstein, Holzenberg
• Bürg: Schlossberg
• Degerloch: Scharrenberg
• Endersbach: Hintere Klinge, Wetzstein
• Esslingen: Burg, Kirchberg, Neckarhalde, Schenkenberg
• Fellbach: Gips, Goldberg, Herzogenberg, Lämmler, Mönchberg
• Gaisburg: Abelsberg
• Großheppach: Steingrüble, Wanne, Zügernberg
• Grunbach: Berghalde, Klingle
• Hanweiler: Berg, Maien
• Hebsack: Lichtenberg
• Hertmannsweiler: Himmelreich
• Kleinheppach: Greiner, Sonnenberg, Steingrüble
• Korb: Berg, Sommerhalde, Steingrüble
• Neustadt: Söhrenberg
• Obertürkheim: Kirchberg
• Rohracker: Lenzenberg
• Rommelshausen: Häder, Mönchberg
• Schnait: Altenberg, Burghalde, Sonnenberg
• Schorndorf: Grafenberg
• Steinreinach: Hörnle
• Stetten: Brotwasser, Häder, Lindhälder, Mönchberg, Pulvermächer, Sonnenberg
• Strümpfelbach: Altenberg, Nonnenberg
• Stuttgart: Kriegsberg, Mönchshalde, Schlossberg
• Uhlbach: Götzenberg
• Untertürkheim: Altenberg, Gips, Herzogenberg, Mönchberg
• Winnenden: Berg, Haselstein, Holzenberg
• Winterbach: Hungerberg

The Upper Neckar area lies in the south of the wine-growing region with vineyards around Tübingen. The municipalities with their individual vineyards are Breitenholz with Hinterhalde; Entringen with Pfaffenberg; Kirschau with Sonnenhalden; Reutlingen with Sommerhalde; Rottenburg with Kapellenberg; Tübingen with Sonnenhalden; and Wendelsheim with Kapellenberg. The area of Bavarian Lake Constance comprises the single Großlage Lindauer Seegarten with the municipalities and their individual vineyards Lindau with Spitalhalde; Nonnenhorn with Seehalde and Sonnenbichel; and Wasserburg-Hattnau with Weinhalde. The Württembergischer Bodensee area, which is free of large vineyards, only includes the two communities of Kreßbronn with Berghalde; and Ravensburg with Rauenegg.

Grape variety list

Along with the Ahr, Württemberg is one of the two German wine-growing regions where considerably more red wines are produced than white wines. However, as in many other wine-growing regions, the proportion of red wine varieties has fallen slightly. There were no serious changes compared to 2009. Trollinger is still in the lead. This "Swabian house grape", which does not occur at all in most other growing regions and is potentially not one of the top varieties, is grown in the highest-quality sites. It is followed by Riesling and three other red wine varieties, Schwarzriesling, Limberger (Blaufränkisch) and Spätburgunder. A Württemberg speciality is Schillerwein, made from white and red grapes. The status 2018 (0 = smaller than 0.5 ha):

Producers

The members of 70 winegrowers' cooperatives with a central winery in Möglingen cultivate around 8,500 hectares, three quarters of the total vineyard area, and therefore play a dominant role. Well-known producers are Adelmann, Aldinger Gerhard, Beurer, Brüderlich, Busch Karl, Collegium Wirtemberg, Dautel, Dolde Helmut, Doreas, Drautz-Able, Eisele Alexander, Ellwanger Bernhard, Ellwanger Jürgen, Escher Ottmar, Fellbacher Weingärtner, Friedauer, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Oehringen, G.A. Heinrich, Graf Neipperg, Graf von Bentzel Sturmfeder, GravinO, Häge, Haidle Karl, Haidle Wolfgang, Heid Markus, Herzog von Württemberg, Hirth - Rebhof, Kistenmacher-Hengerer, Knauß, Kuhnle Werner, Kurz-Wagner, Kusterer, Laicher, Medinger, Sankt Annagarten, Schäfer-Heinrich, Schäfer Reinhard, Schloßgut Hohenbeilstein, Schnaitmann, Schütz Benjamin, Schwegler Albrecht, Seyffer, Siegloch, Singer-Bader, Sonnenhof, Steinbachhof, Wangler, Weingärtner Brackenheim, Weingärtner Cleebronn-Güglingen, Weinmanufaktur Untertürkheim, Weinsberg, Wo der Hahn kräht, Wöhrwag and Zimmerle.