Rheingau

Question 1

What is the mountain range that borders the Rheingau to the north?

Answer 1

Taunus

Question 2

What is the name of the lone bereiche in the Rheingau?

Answer 2

Johannisberg–named for the village in the central Rheingau

Question 3

Alleinbesitz

Answer 3

Single vineyard owned by a single producer–a monopole

Question 4

Distance from Hochheim am Main to Lorch

Answer 4

40 km; 25 miles

Question 5

“Kloster”

Answer 5

Abbey

Question 6

“Schloss”

Answer 6

Castle

Question 7

Höllenberg

Answer 7

Pre-eminent einzellage for Spatburgunder in Assmanshausen

Question 8

Additional Rheingau divisions aside from Johannisberg Bereiche

Answer 8

• Western Rheingau: extends from Assmanshausen north to Lorchhausen. Has colder sites and purer slate soils.
• Maingau: Runs along the Main River–a Rhein tributary–and surrounds the village of Hochheim am Main. Lower in elevation than the Rhein–rarely exceeding 120 m.a.s.l.–and uncharacteristically warm.

Question 9

Origin of the term “kabinett”

Answer 9

Because vintages and were so variable, the concept of “Cabinet” wines emerged. Wines from the best sites and vintages were kept in cabinets and sold for cashflow in weaker vintages. The first documented cabinetkeller dates to 1716 at Schloss Vollrads. Later, the 1971 wine law would appropriate the term into Kabinett.

Question 10

Origin of selective and late harvesting

Answer 10

In 1775 the delayed arrival of a courier carrying the permission to harvest forced a late harvest of botrytized grapes and yielded an unexpectedly extraordinary wine. By the early 19th century, auslese and spatlese were common practices and terms.

Question 11

Germany’s two most important wine organizations originated in the Rheingau–what are they?

Answer 11

The VDP and Charta.

Question 12

What is Charta?

Answer 12

Leading producers, including Georg Breuer, Schloss Vollrads, Robert Weil, and Kloster Eberbach, got together and formed the organization in 1984. The intent was to promote a more strictly made, dry style of site-driven riesling. 1992 was the first vintage to reflect the group’s Erstes Gewächs–first growth–classification system, a parallel of Burgundy’s classification. In 2002, the group introduced Grosse Gewächs, grand cru.