TERROIR PROFILE
Untere Ahr (Bad Neuenahr–Heimersheim)
Open slate-loess slopes
Lower Ahr: juicy, approachable Pinot Noir from slate and loess.
Climate, site & wine
Slate, greywacke, loess and loamy soils sit side by side here, with basalt added at the Landskrone. Loess dominates in volume and gives fruit-driven reds.
Spätburgunder and Frühburgunder are the Ahr's main varieties, with Riesling alongside. The area is Germany's largest contiguous red wine region. The Ahr totals 533 hectares of vines, around 80 percent of them red varieties. Heimersheim lies at the valley mouth.
TERROIR PROFILE · Ahr
Untere Ahr (Bad Neuenahr–Heimersheim) Open slate-loess slopes
Lower Ahr: juicy, approachable Pinot Noir from slate and loess.
SOILS
Slatemineral, smoky
Slate stores heat and releases it at night — wines show wet stone, smoke and a delicate structure.
Loessround, fruity, full
Loess stores water and nutrients. Wines tend to be rounder, juicier and fuller.
Volcanic rocksmoky, mineral, powerful
Volcanic soils yield smoky, often iodine-mineral wines with dense structure.
CLIMATE · Cool continental
The Ahr lies in the rain shadow of the Eifel, with around 560 mm of annual rainfall. In the lower section the valley opens towards the Rhine, so slopes are less enclosed and airier.
TOPOGRAPHY · moderate
Broader slopes near Heimersheim, Heppingen and Bad Neuenahr; the Landskrone is a basalt cone rising above Heimersheim with gradients of up to about 55 percent.
WHAT IT MEANS IN THE GLASS
Similar terroirs worldwide
Computed from fingerprint similarity
Mainviereck (Bürgstadt–Klingenberg)
Franconia
100% similar
- Untere Ahr (Bad Neuenahr–Heimersheim) and Mainviereck (Bürgstadt–Klingenberg) share a strikingly similar fingerprint — the differences lie in soil and grape varieties.
Ortenau
Baden
96% similar
- Sun (slightly): Untere Ahr (Bad Neuenahr–Heimersheim) gets less sun → paler colour, more herbal spice (6 vs. 7).
Wineries on this terroir
See all 19 →Brogsitter Weingüter
Grafschaft
Renown 55/100
Weingut Nelles
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
Renown 43/100
Weingut Adeneuer
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
Renown 42/100
Weingut Burggarten
Heppingen
Renown 32/100
Weingut Sonnenberg
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
Renown 14/100
Bergstation Weingut Kriechel
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
Renown 12/100
Weingut Kurth
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
Renown 7/100
Maibachfarm
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
Renown 5/100
This terroir's soils in the glossary