VDP: Mittelrhein

Welcome to the VDP.Mittelrhein

Fairytale landscapes, modern wines

There is something simply enchanting about the narrow valley of the Mittelrhein, with its steep terraced vineyards, castles and palaces perched to look down on the river like stone witnesses to times gone by – a unique cultural landscape that has rightly been included in the UN’s World Heritage List. The vines – mainly Riesling, but also Pinot family varieties – have deep roots, almost clinging to the typical slate rock – ideal conditions for world-class wines.

A STEEP THING ...

The relatively small Mittelrhein winegrowing region is also one of Germany’s warmest in general. For as many as 50 days per year the thermometer can be expected to rise above 25 degrees Celsius in the region’s beautiful vineyards spread out across 120 kilometers along the Rhine. The VDP.GROSSE LAGE^® and VDP.ERSTE LAGE^® sites are all located on the southern and eastern slopes on the left bank of the Rhine between Oberdiebach and Spay. Some of the vineyards are extremely steep and terraced – requiring a complex set of cultivation. The soils consist largely of slate and weathered greywacke.

Zu den Weinbergslagen des VDP.Mittelrhein (zur Zeit nicht aktiv)

THE HISTORY OF THE VDP.MITTELRHEIN

The Mittelrhein between Bingen and Koblenz has long stood for the famous Romantic Rhine as well as the VDP's smallest regional association. The VDP.Mittelrhein was originally founded in 1987 with seven wine estates from Bacharach. One estate each from Oberwesel and Spay have since adopted their processes to satisfy the strict rules of the VDP and made it through the VDP’s rigorous invitation process. 63.5 of the 461 overall hectares of vineyards in the Mittelrhein currently cultivated by five VDP.Estates are not just among the best in the region – they are also pieces of World Cultural Heritage in the strictest sense of the word.

FORMER CHAIRMANS:

1987 - 1998 Fritz Bastian, Bacharach
1998 - 2010 Jochen Ratzenberger senior, Bacharach