TERROIR PROFILE
Rheinterrasse
Loess and limestone terraces on the Rhine
Rheinhessen's Rhine front: warm loess-limestone terraces, Mainz's urban wineries and the Roter Hang at the top.
Climate, site & wine
On the Roter Hang the iron-rich Rotliegend provides heat storage and mineral spice; the Rieslings are powerful and long-lived.
Beyond the steep slopes Riesling, Silvaner and the Pinots grow on loess and limestone marl; Spätburgunder supplements. The Roter Hang formed when the Rhine Graben subsided; its individual sites from north to south include Rothenberg, Pettenthal, Brudersberg, Hipping, Kranzberg, Ölberg, Heiligenbaum and Orbel.
TERROIR PROFILE · Rheinhessen
Rheinterrasse Loess and limestone terraces on the Rhine
Rheinhessen's Rhine front: warm loess-limestone terraces, Mainz's urban wineries and the Roter Hang at the top.
SOILS
Loessround, fruity, full
Loess stores water and nutrients. Wines tend to be rounder, juicier and fuller.
Limestoneprecise, mineral
Limestone delivers tension, structure and a cooler, more mineral character.
Rotliegendes (red slate)warm, spicy, exotic
Permian Rotliegendes — iron-rich, heat-storing. Yields characterful, spicy Rieslings with unusual depth.
CLIMATE · Warm · Dry · Sunny
Rheinhessen is among Germany's warmer and drier wine regions; the Rhine stores heat. The slopes of the Rhine front incline eastward towards the river.
TOPOGRAPHY · moderate
Terraces along the Rhine front from Mainz-Laubenheim to Alsheim. The Roter Hang between Nackenheim and Nierstein is about five kilometres long but barely 200 metres wide.
WHAT IT MEANS IN THE GLASS
Similar terroirs worldwide
Computed from fingerprint similarity
Mittelhaardt
Palatinate
93% similar
- Warmth (slightly): Rheinterrasse is warmer → riper fruit, more alcohol, softer acidity (7 vs. 6).
- Sun (slightly): Rheinterrasse gets more sun → deeper colour, riper tannin (8 vs. 7).
Bingen/Ingelheim
Rheinhessen
93% similar
- Warmth (slightly): Rheinterrasse is warmer → riper fruit, more alcohol, softer acidity (7 vs. 6).
- Sun (slightly): Rheinterrasse gets more sun → deeper colour, riper tannin (8 vs. 7).
Wineries on this terroir
See all 36 →Weingut Braunewell
Essenheim
Renown 38/100
Weingut Brüder Dr. Becker
Ludwigshöhe
Renown 26/100
Weingut Dietz
Oppenheim
Renown 19/100
Weingut Schneider
Mainz
Renown 17/100
Weingut Stenner
Mainz
Renown 13/100
Weingut Lamberth
Ludwigshöhe
Renown 5/100
Weingut Doktor Heyden
Oppenheim
Renown 4/100
Weingut Heinz Lemb
Mainz
Renown 4/100
This terroir's soils in the glossary