Palatinate (german: Pfalz) is a
German wine
German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of German wine is produced in the state of Rhineland-Pala ...
-growing
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
(''Weinbaugebiet'') in the area of
Bad Dürkheim,
Neustadt an der Weinstraße, and
Landau
Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...
in
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
. Before 1993, it was known as Rhine Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz''). With under cultivation in 2008, the region is the second largest wine region in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
after
Rheinhessen.
[German Wine Institute: German wine statistics 2009/2010](_blank)
There are about 6,800
vintners producing around 6.5 million
hectolitres of wine annually.
History
Although wild varieties of the vine were most probably native in the Palatinate region, the
Romans brought the cultivated vine and winegrowing techniques around 1 A.D. Several Roman landhouses () were found in the Palatinate region, for example near
Wachenheim and
Ungstein.
The restructuring of the 1980s raised the quality of the area's vineyards to modern standards and by the end of the 20th century, Palatinate wines were garnering international notice for their quality.
Climate and geography
The Palatinate wine region overlaps with, but is not coextensive with, the traditional German region of
Palatinate, making up only 5% of its area. The
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...
region is an stretch situated under the
lee
Lee may refer to:
Name
Given name
* Lee (given name), a given name in English
Surname
* Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee:
** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname
** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...
of the
Palatinate Forest on the
Haardt Mountains, a continuation of
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
's
Vosges Mountains
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a singl ...
. Its climate is much like that of Alsace (France) in the south or Baden (Germany) in the east; and it is one of the warmest, sunniest and driest of German wine regions, with only parts of Baden (the only Zone B region in Germany), such as the Kaiserstuhl, being warmer. The vineyards are planted on a mixture of
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...
and
volcanic soil.
Subregions
The region is divided into two districts (''Bereich''), ''
Südliche Weinstraße'' (Southern Wine Route) in the south and ''
Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstraße'' (Central Haardt-German Wine Route) in the north. The Northern vineyards are located north of
Neustadt an der Weinstraße in a region often listed on
wine labels as ''Mittelhaardt'' and includes the following towns and villages:
*
Bad Dürkheim
*
Deidesheim
*
Forst an der Weinstraße
Forst may refer to:
Communities
In Germany
*, in the district of Aachen
*Forst (Baden), in Baden-Württemberg
*Forst (Lausitz), in Brandenburg
* Forst (Unterfranken), part of Schonungen, Bavaria
* Forst, Altenkirchen, in the district of Altenki ...
*
Freinsheim
Freinsheim (; Palatine German: Fränsem) is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With about 5,000 inhabitants, it is among the state's smaller towns. It is also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', ...
*
Kallstadt
*
Ruppertsberg
*
Wachenheim
*
Ungstein
*
Lambsheim
Lambsheim is a municipality in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lambsheim-Heßheim.
Geography
Lambsheim is situated approximately 6 km southwest of Frankenthal, and 11&nbs ...
*
Kirchheim
*
Bockenheim
The Southern subregion located south of Neustadt an der Weinstraße has significant plantings of the varieties
Grauburgunder
Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the grap ...
(Pinot gris) and
Weissburgunder
Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produces white ...
(Pinot blanc) but also produces some
Riesling. The soil here ranges from sandstone to
slate. The subregion includes the following villages:
*
Birkweiler
*
Burrweiler
*
Frankweiler
Frankweiler is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers ...
*
Siebeldingen
Siebeldingen is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers a ...
*
Rhodt
Grapes and wine
There are 45 white and 22 red grape varieties permitted to be cultivated in the Palatinate. Overall the production is split between 61% white wine and 39% red wine.
For many years the dominant grapes of the region were the
Müller-Thurgau
Müller-Thurgau is a white grape variety (sp. '' Vitis vinifera'') which was created by Hermann Müller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882 at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany. It is a crossing of Riesling with Madelein ...
,
Kerner and
Morio Muscat with Riesling always having a strong foothold in the Mittelhaardt. Toward the end of the 20th century, plantings of Riesling began to increase in the south as well as an increase in plantings of red wine varieties such as
Spätburgunder (Pinot noir),
Portugieser and
Dornfelder
Dornfelder is a dark-skinned variety of grape of German origin used for red wine. .
The wines of the Palatinate are traditionally dry (''
trocken'') with a
full body, though some examples of sweet Portugieser still exist. The red wines often reach
alcohol levels of 13% and go through
malolactic fermentation and spend some time in
oak. Since the 1990s there has been increased production in the sparkling wine (
Sekt) made from Riesling.
The most cultivated grape varieties, by area in 2008, were:
Culture
Unlike most other
German wine
German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of German wine is produced in the state of Rhineland-Pala ...
regions, wine is not only served straight, but is also
mixed with
sparkling water to make up a popular refreshing drink called , a term that also describes juice, mixed with water. Every wine making city or village has its own (wine festival) once a year, dedicated to drinking the local wines. On such occasions, wine is normally consumed as . It is traditionally served in 50
cl glasses called (meaning litre) as well as in the typical 25 cl ones called ("quarter", for litre).
They are of a special shape specific to the region and are known as the , widening from bottom to top and featuring indentations or large dimples () that give the glass its name. The older, undimpled cylindrical half-litre is also frequently seen in the region. The
German Wine Route () traverses this wine region. The region also produces
spirits,
sparkling wines, wine
vinegar
Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...
, and
grape seed oil.
See also
*
German Wine Route
References
External links
Pfalzweinofficial site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palatinate (wine region)
Wine regions of Germany
Geography of Rhineland-Palatinate