The land

The Rheingau is a 30-mile stretch of vineyards along the right (north) bank of the Rhine, just west of Wiesbaden. The river makes a long east-west bend here, exposing the vineyards directly to south sun. The soils are diverse — quartzite, slate, clay, loess, and red sandstone — and the climate is warmer than the Mosel, producing wines with more body, richer fruit, and lower acid. The Rheingau is the smaller of Germany’s classical Riesling regions but historically the more prestigious, with vineyards that have been worked by Cistercian monks since the 12th century.

The classifications

German Riesling sweetness classification (Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Eiswein, Trockenbeerenauslese) applies as elsewhere. The VDP classification (Erste Lage and Grosse Lage for top single-vineyard sites; Grosses Gewächs or GG for the top dry single-vineyard wines) is widely used. The historical Charta movement of the 1980s pushed Rheingau toward dry Riesling, and most modern Rheingau is dry to off-dry. The Eberbach monastery (Kloster Eberbach) — the historical center of German Riesling — sits in the Rheingau.

Style of the wines

Rheingau Riesling is more substantial than Mosel — fuller-bodied, riper-fruited, with somewhat lower acid. The signature profile: yellow apple, ripe pear, white peach, beeswax, smoke, sometimes a slightly oily texture in the more powerful bottlings. The wines age beautifully — Schloss Vollrads, Schloss Johannisberg, and the great Rüdesheim Hinterhaus produce wines that age fifty years and more.

Vintages to know

2022 — outstanding. 2018 — generous. 2015 — exceptional. 2010 — legendary (especially for sweet styles).

Producers we know

Robert Weil (the modern reference), Schloss Johannisberg (one of the world’s oldest continuously-operating wineries), Georg Breuer, Künstler, Leitz, Domdechant Werner, Kloster Eberbach. Also Peter Jakob Kühn (biodynamic, in the Mittelheim sub-zone).