Boppard & Spay

The Bopparder Hamm is a bend of the Rhine on the left bank between Boppard and Spay and the largest contiguous wine-growing area on the Middle Rhine, with about 75 hectares of vineyards. The wine villages Boppard and Spay lie on the slopes of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. The name Hamm is often traced to Latin hamus, hook.

The south-facing slopes receive sun until late evening. The vineyards stand on permeable weathered soil of slate and greywacke with a high stone content; dark Hunsrück slate predominates. With gradients of 70 to over 80 percent they are among the steepest sites, and work is done largely by hand.

Riesling clearly dominates, with Spätburgunder and Weissburgunder alongside. Sites in the Hamm include Feuerlay (15.3 hectares), Mandelstein (12.4 hectares), Ohlenberg (7.3 hectares), Engelstein (2 hectares) and Rabenlay. Well-known estates are Matthias Müller in Spay, Weingart in Spay and Perll in Boppard.