Top 100 sweet wines of Rüdesheim

Discovering the wine region of Rüdesheim

Rüdesheim is a town on the northern banks of the Rhine river in the German wine region of Rheingau. It has a number of notable Vineyard sites planted mainly to Riesling. Seven of these are classified by the VDP as Grosse Lage: Rosengarten, Kirchenpfad, Unterer Bischofsberg, Berg Rottland, Berg Roseneck, Berg Kaisersteinfels and Berg Schlossberg. Someof these are on the south-facing slopes above the town.

The most highly regarded sites are on the banks above the Rhine river, to the west of the town itself. The vineyards above the town, including Kirchenpfad and Bischofsberg, are planted on sedimentary soils that have better water retention than the rockier sites to the west. These vineyards are protected from the cold northern winds by the surrounding hills, and are instead in the path of an easterly breeze that restrains the typical morning mist and keeps the vines Dry. The steepest section of the Rheingau is just west of Rüdesheim.

Here, the Berd Rottland, Berg Roseneck and Berg Schlossberg vineyards make some of the most prized wines in the Rheingau on vineyards that have gradients reaching as high as 70 percent. The change in soil types is pronounced, with slate, quartzite and gravel dominating a little scattered loess near the surface. Riesling reaches great maturity in these vineyards due to the close proximity to the Rhine and the quartzite soils retaining heat throughout the evening. The area was first settled by Celts, followed by the Romans in the 1st century, who brought with them their wine-making knowledge.