Dry stone wall terraces climb one after the other up the dizzyingly steep 90 percent slope of the VDP.GROSSE LAGE® SCHLOSSBERG. Vines are planted on the terraces from 120 to 220 metres a.s.l. and benefit from the warmth stored in the southwest facing site long into the night. The SCHLOSSBERG GL has historically been considered the “great Burgundian vineyard of Germany”. It is only possible to work the vineyard and harvest the grapes by hand. The soil is meagre and is comprised of rocky variegated sandstone, its weathered debris, and red clay. Despite the sandy fine earth, the soil has good available water capacity. Loess at the top of the hill provides the vineyard with necessary extra moisture. The site is protected as a historic monument. SCHLOSSBERG GL is planted predominantly with Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir).
History: Matthäus Merian the Elder wrote about Klingenberg in 1646: “A tiny little city that has achieved fame for wine cultivation – and what delicious wine it is.” 14 years previous, Erasmus Wiedemann wrote: “At Klingenberg on the Main, at Würzburg on Stein, at Bacharach on the Rhine – have I often heard said in my time, are to be found the very best of wine.”