Pfalz
Here you will find 23,000 hectares of vineyards, the second largest plantation in Germany.
Riesling is king in Pfalz, although there are more grape varieties here than in the Rheingau. In addition to the 5,000 hectares of Riesling, weiss and Grauburgunder, Silvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Scheurebe and Gewürztraminer also stand for white. Red wines are also becoming increasingly important, mainly made from Spätburgunder, Portugieser and Dornfelder. A remarkable development in the Palatinate is the emergence of beautiful rosés from Spätburgunder.
Famous wineries and good wines
The wine villages of the Mittelhaardt are a short distance apart along the Deutsche Weinstrasse, a route under the slopes of the vast Pfalzer Wald. This large forest also offers protection against rain and cold. The Palatinate is diverse, you will even find almond and apricot trees! One of the most famous villages is Forst, a friendly town with a number of famous wineries, good restaurants and renowned vineyards. You will find the Jesuitengarden, Ungeheuer, Musenhang, Pechstein and Freudstück vineyards. A vineyard such as the Musenhang, at the very edge, even experiences the shade of the trees directly; wildlife also likes to eat a grape here.
Characteristic soil
On the Low Ungeheuer, on the other hand, just a little lower on the slope and outside of the shade of the forest, the grapes are in the sun for a larger part of the day and can therefore develop sufficient sugars and become fully ripe much sooner. The differences in the wines are noticeable and good to taste! The soil is another determining factor for the high quality of the wines of Forst. Millions of years ago magma flows surfaced at Forst; basalt is therefore present in various places. You can even admire that basalt in an old quarry that is still several hundred meters into the forest. In addition to basalt, the soils of Forst are characterized by various types of sandstone, with the most famous variants being the Roter and Gelber Sandstein, collectively referred to as Buntsandstein.
Characteristic aromas and taste
Sandstone retains the warmth of the sun very well, so that the grapes in large parts of the Palatinate ripen faster than elsewhere. Certainly, for Riesling, a late-ripening grape, that is a favorable factor. Solid acids are also a characteristic, as are characteristic aromas such as citrus and grapefruit, and a great minerality. The bottom of the Ungeheuer, where the Erste Lage wine from Dr. von Basserman-Jordan today, consists of such Buntsandstein, supplemented with limestone and basalt. De Lage, with his special name, was made world famous by Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who, after tasting a Riesling of this plot, would have declared around 1890: “Dieses Ungeheuer schmeckt mir ungeheuer”. Freely translated: This monster tastes delicious!