Rheinhessen is Germany's largest region for producing the quality wines of the Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) and Prädikatswein designations, with roughly 26,500 hectares (65,000 acres) of Vineyard">Vineyards as of 2014. Many of its most significant viticultural areas are favorably influenced by the Rhine river, which runs aLong its North and eastern borders. The Rhine, along with the Nahe river to the west and the Haardt mountains to its South, form a natural border. Rheinhessen covers an area south of Rheingau, north of Pfalz and east of Nahe, and is located within the Rhineland-Palatinate federal state.
The region has been cultivating Grapes for wine production at least since ancient Roman occupation. It's also the home to the oldest surviving records of a German vineyard. Named Glöck, the vineyard was included in a deed for a church and vineyards gifted by Carloman – a duke of the Franks of the Carolingian family and the uncle of the first Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne – to the diocese of Würzburg in 742. Within a century, dozens of villages were cultivating grapes throughout Rheinhessen.
An early documentation of Riesling as a distinct grape variety, identified as Rüssling, was also found in records from the city Worms dating back to 1402. The Size of the region, and its location on the Rhine, has given it a significant role in Germany's wine industry history. Its largest city, Mainz, has been an unofficial Center for wine trade, being home to several national wine organizations including the German Wine Institute and the Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates (Verband Deutscher Prädikats-und Qualitätsweingüter e. V.
Export shipments were worth £4.51bn last year, up 19% on 2020, but 8% below the total of £4.91bn recorded in 2019, according to HMRC figures quoted by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). However, export volumes rose 21% to nearly 1.4 billion bottles in 2021, some 73 million bottles above the figures recorded in pre-pandemic 2019. Scotch exports experienced an annus horribilis in 2020, falling to a 10-year low thanks to the combined effects of the pandemic and the imposition of punitive import t ...
BCAP, a group controlled by the Castéja family, has agreed to acquire Château Peyrabon and Château La Fleur Peyrabon from Millésima, a subsidiary of the Bernard family, a joint-statement by both families said. Financial details weren’t disclosed. Peyrabon, in Haut-Médoc, was ranked as a ‘Supérieur’ estate in the Cru Bourgeois 2020 classification, which saw the ranking return to a three-tier system. ‘Supérieur’ is above standard Cru Bourgeois level but below ‘Exceptionnel’. Millésima and the Bern ...
Inflation and higher costs have led to questions in the UK and US in recent weeks about how much the trade can absorb before wine prices increase. Despite a recent freeze on duty tax, the UK Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has said it is concerned wine prices may rise in 2022 due to myriad factors, including higher costs, inflation and supply chain issues. The trade body sent a letter to government signed by 49 UK wine and spirits businesses last month, warning that ‘rising cost ...