The flavor of lemon zest in wine of Mittelrhein
Discover the of Mittelrhein wines revealing the of lemon zest flavor during the olphactive analysis (nose) and during the gustative analysis (mouth).
Mittelrhein is one of Germany's smaller wine regions, with around 468 hectares (1,156 acres) under Vine. A Long, thin region, it follows the course of the Rhine river between Rheinhessen/bingen">Bingen and Bonn, a distance of about 100 kilometers (60 miles) as the crow flies.
At its Southern end, the region abuts the western edge of Rheinhessen and northern limits of the Nahe. It also intersects with the Mosel and Ahr regions, where their respective rivers Flow into the Rhine.
The better Vineyard sites are concentrated in the south, around Boppard, Bacharach and Bingen.
Some of the scenery here is spectacular, with medieval castles perched on rocky crags overlooking the vineyards and river below. Indeed, the 'Upper Middle Rhine Valley' was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002.
Mittelrhein wine production is dominated by white wine varieties, most obviously Riesling, which accounts for around 65 percent of vines here.
Müller-Thurgau, Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) also feature. The only red-wine grape grown in any quantity here is Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) which accounts for roughly ten percent.
Very little Mittelrhein wine is exported, and even on the German domestic market it is not widely known. Unfortunately, the region's dramatic beauty comes at a cost to the wine trade.
Severe drought and heatwaves have provided challenges for wine producers across Europe in 2022, from maintaining vine health to concerns about – and the impact of – wildfires. Early harvests have been a feature of the vintage and reports emerged this week of records being broken at some white wine-producing estates in Bordeaux. Spain’s Caserío de Dueñas estate in DO Rueda said it began a record early harvest on 16 August this year. While drought and heat have put pressure on yields in some regio ...
How’s the weather been this year? Awful. ‘La nature m’écoeure’, one of my wine-growing friends posted on Facebook on 8 April, having been out to look at the frost-crippled shoots on his vines that morning: ‘Nature disgusts me’. It takes a lot to make a wine-grower feel that. He wasn’t alone. Jeremiads echo around the northern hemisphere as 2021 closes. It’s been the year of all the miseries. None suffered more horribly than the growers of Germany’s Ahr valley, where floodwaters caused by the fou ...
I first contributed to Decanter back in November 1988; the hundreds of columns and articles I’ve written since constitute a journey of discovery. I squirm, though, if I’m described as a ‘wine expert’. Whatever wine knowledge we acquire quickly cools, congeals and crusts over, like custard or gravy, as the years pass. The wine world expands at a clip. Every vintage rewrites history. It’s the chance to share discoveries – not just about wines, but about people, places and the act of drinking itsel ...