the magazine of the german wine institute - Wines of Germany

35 26
GERMAN WINE GROWING REGIONS
Vineyard area:
ca. 16,000 ha,
56% white wine
Most important grape varieties:
Spätburgunder, Müller-Thurgau,
Grauburgunder, Weißburgunder,
Riesling
Further information:
www.badischerwein.de
The Holy Spirit wine press
of Meersburg
Reichenau – where wine in cultivated
in water
The Great Vat in Heidelberg Castle
Volcanic rock garden at the Winklerberg
in Ihringen
Rhein
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Meersburg
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IF YOU THINK THE WEATHER in Germany is
mainly cold and uncomfortable, you should visit
Baden! Located in the southwest of Germany,
the growing region stretches from Tauberfranken
in the north via Heidelberg along the Rhine
down to Lake Constance. With almost 16,000
hectares under vine, it is the third largest wine
region of the country.
Baden is characterised by a particularly mild
climate. This is mainly due to the Belfort Gap,
a plateau between the rock formations of the
southern Vosges mountains and the northern
Jura mountains. Here, the mild Mediterranean
air currents stream into the Upper Rhine
Plain. For this reason, Baden is the only German
wine region which is part of the EU winegrowing
zone B. This includes the warmer areas
of Europe. It is said that because of the Belfort
Gap Baden is Pinot country. Pinot Noir,
Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris thrive in this area.
A local speciality is the rose-coloured wine called
Badisch Rotgold, not a grape variety but a special
cuvée made from Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.
The diverse region of Baden offers a variety of
soil profiles: from shell limestone and keuper in
the Kraichgau and on the banks of the Tauber
via lime, clay and marl deposits to the rich loess
and clay soils, which contain volcanic scatterings
at Kaiserstuhl, Tuniberg and in the Markgräflerland.
Baden is divided into nine districts:
Bodensee, Markgräflerland, Tuniberg, Kaiserstuhl,
Freiburg, Ortenau, Kraichgau, Badische
Bergstraße and Tauberfranken.
IN GERMANY, THE KAISERSTUHL GETS THE MOST
SUNSHINE.
This volcanic cone between the Black Forest and
Vosges mountains, with an average temperature
of over 11 degrees Celsius, is undoubtedly one
of the warmest places in the country. This leads
to an endemic flora and fauna which is quite
page right above:
view of Meersburg and
Lake Constance
page right below:
vineyards in Baden
near Durbach
small photos below:
harbour at Reichenau
Among the
excellent white
wines from Baden
is the “Klingelberger”.
This is simply a
Riesling known by that name in the Ortenau.
The name stems from the Klingelberg vineyard, part
of the Schlossberg at Durbach where Margrave Carl
Friedrich of Baden, master of the Staufenberg Castle
winery, had Riesling planted in 1782. The fact
that this vineyard was first planted with only
a single variety, was an innovation at
that time.
DID YOU KNOW?
unusual for Germany: 36 orchid species are native
to the Kaiserstuhl as well as 729 species of
butterflies, the colourful bee-eater, the up to 40
centimetre long green lizard and the praying
mantis. The name Kaiserstuhl (emperor’s seat)
originates from Emperor Otto III (980-1002)
whose court was located in the local Leiselheim
area “Gestühl” which remains a vineyard name
to this day.
Baden has made a name for itself far beyond its
borders for its high concentration of gourmet
restaurants. Hardly any other region in Germany
has so many restaurants with star chefs,
a fact that is even known in the French Alsace.
Culinary tourism across the border but also from
other parts of Germany and Switzerland is constantly
increasing.