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Preface When in 1899 the President of the Regional Administration of Coblenz, August Friedrich Baron von HoveL, instructed his civil servants to undertake a classifiication of the vineyards of the Nahe together with the region's vintners (a task completed in 1901), he could hardly imagine that almost exactly a century later his work would receive such astonishing confirmation. However, this is exactly what has happened. The new classification of the vineyard sites of the Nahe by the renowned English wine writers Hugh Johnson and Stuart Pigott published in 1995 in the 'Wine Atlas of Germany', and reproduced here, is virtually identical with that of 1901. This may surprise some people, but certainly not serious observers: today, as a century ago, it was the quality of the soil and the microclimate of each vineyard which were assessed. The achievements of individual vintners were of only marginal significance. Needless to say though, only a vintner who is both ambitious and sensitive can turn the excellent raw material which a top vineyard site yields into great wines. It is sad that, just as the perceptions of 1901 were not adopted as the basis for a wine law, it is hardly to be expected that the results of 1995 will either. The Nahe region, hitherto known as the source of some of the world's greatest white wines only to a circle of connoisseurs, needs this more urgently than ever. Needless to say, such a step would require that the region's vintners recognize the necessity of such a classification, then fight for its fair implementation. It is my pleasure to thank all those whose contributions and assistance have made JLthis unique volume possible, first of all the authors Hugh Johnson, Stuart Pigott, Dr. Otto Atzbach, Karl-Heinz Sattelmayer and Gerhard Benz, who also edited the entire work. Stuart Pigott was responsible for the English translation, Wilhelm Stiehl for the French translation, and Franz Saeki for the Japanese texts. The original map which is reproduced here was a loan from Weingut Paul Anheuser in Bad Kreuznach. Finally, I would like to thank Hallwag publishing house for their permission to reprint the Armin Diel
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The Nahe Vineyard Gerhard Benz
No wonder that towards the end of the 19th century wine makers and merchants wanted to document the rudiments from which their wealth derived. Finally, the vintners and wine merchants were able to persuade the Kreuznach publisher Harrach to print a map classifying the vineyards of the Nahe. However, it required a decree of the President of the Regional Administration in Coblenz of May 10, 1899 in order to get things moving. This undertaking would not have been possible if the publisher had not been able to make use of substantial existing information. During the 1820s and 1830s the land of the Nahe region was categorised according to use and evaluated. This survey was the basis for the land tax assessment and was updated during the 1860s. The classifications in France, notably those in Bordeaux, Burgundy and Alsace, may be the best known. Today, however, there can be no doubt that the official assessment of vineyard land values in Germany during the first third of the 19th century was the world's first systematic vineyard classification . The Prussians set themselves to this task with all their notorious precision. In the true Prussian spirit, the President of the regional administration in Coblenz wrote to the Lord Lieutenant of Bad Kreuznach, Agricola, anxious that the vineyard classification map should not be solely based upon the survey information of the 1860s. „Since it appears desirable that the map should depict the contemporary situation, significant changes since then must be considered." The President further It soon became apparent, that several hurdles would have to be taken before this task could be realised. The most serious of these was the splintering of the Nahe vineyards into several administrative districts, a fact which long prevented a selfsufficent Nahe winegrowing region. Plans of the survey districts of Obermoschel and Winnweiler had to be requested from Bavaria in order to include the vineyards south of the Nahe and in the Alsenz Valley. The Hessian duke's aide de camp Given these circumstances, one must admire what the Prussian civil servants achieved. They succeeded in completing a classification of the Nahe vineyards which retains its value to this day. On close examination, it becomes obvious that the vineyard sites which were classified as belonging to the highest category are precisely those which enjoy the highest reputation today. This goes for the entire region: Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen and Halenberg, Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg (the Kupfergrube did not exist a century ago), Niederhauser Hermannshohle (the Hermannsberg didn't The vineyards were classified into three categories: those for which a land tax between 15 and 120 Silbergroschen per fourth of one hectare had to be paid, those taxed with 150 to 240 Silbergroschen, and finally those for which the highest tax had to be paid, namely 360 to 600 Silbergroschen. The vineyard classification map of 1901 indicated these three categories (classes) with different tints, the darkest signifying the best vineyards. Most changes since the map's publication have occurred on the outskirts of towns and villages. This is especially obvious in the case of Bad Kreuznach, which has considerably expanded since l900. As a result of this expansion, some first-class vineyards south of the town, such as Schonefeld, Hasenrech and Monau, have been plowed under to form lots for new suburban developments. For this same reason, outstanding vineyards north of town such as Hotgarten and Steinweg have ceased to exist. The reform of vineyard boundaries during the 1970s, under which many small sites were added to larger und better neighboring vineyards, also brought substantial changes. Financing the classification map in 1901 was anything but simple. The correspondence between different government departments show distinct parallels to the present day. At the turn of the century, the publication of such a map cost 750 Goldmarks, a truly immense sum of money. The Chamber of Commerce in Coblenz financed the greater part of this project with a contribution of 500 Goldmarks. The regional administration asked the district county to pay the remaining 250 Goldmarks but instead of doing so, the Lord Lieutenant Agricola petitioned various other potential contributors. Finally, the wine merchants' association found its way to pay 50 Goldmarks - not without complaining that they had already paid the same sum for the same map via the Chamber of Commerce. The Agricultural Department under Jean Winckler rejected Agricola's petition point blank. Not so the town council of Bad Kreuznach, which demonstrated its sympathies with a pledge to pay the remaining sum. The District President announced the completion of the map on July 10, 1901. The publisher sold it at three Marks per copy. But even though publisher Harrach offered the festival committee of the National German Winegrowers' Congress, who held their convention in Bad Kreuznach that fall, the maps at half price, it turned his generous offer down. The thrifty Lord Lieutenant of the district county again spared his own budget and merely passed on the plea from Coblenz, to make use of this chance for good publicity. Thanks to the city council of Bad Kreuznach, who helped out again with a contribution, all members of this convention finally did receive a copy of the first official classification of Nahe
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The Opportunity Hugh Johnson
The most famous and celebrated wine classification, if not the first, is that of Bordeaux from the year 1855. However, in many respects the model of Burgundy strikes me as a more realistic one for Germany since it classifies the vineyards alone. In my opinion the youngest French classification, that of Alsace also shows what is important: a classification can only be successful when one ignores the human factor. One must classify the land and only the land. Then, you must tie the classified vineyards to specific grape varieties; something which was unfortunately ignored in Alsace. In Germany the approved grape varieties for classified vineyards should be much more precisely defined, and naturally bound to strict limits on yield. The best vineyards have been known here for centuries, and to this day produce outstanding wines. Particularly in the northerly regions the vintners have always sought out the best locations and tended them. Old maps which include classifications of the vineyards provide impressive evidence of this. Today, many wi'negrowing regions around the world claim to produce the best wines. Germany's vintners will only be able to stand up to this competition if they make clear to the consumer the importance of their I can only recommend the vintners of the Nahe to follow the same path.
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Hugh Johnson/Stuort Pigott: „Atlas der deutschen Weine". Hallwag-Verlag 1995 |
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A Horn of Plenty Karl-Heinz Sattelmayer
Each year it was a privilege for me to make wines from this unique collection of top vineyard sites on the Nahe. After some time one became aware of the strengths and idiosyncracies of each vineyard. However, this did not lead us to proscribe to certain sites with immutable characteristics. Rather, each tasting of the new vintage became an exciting competition amongst the top wines. The anticipation resulted from the question as to whether a wine from supposedly middleranking site would manage to challenge those from classic vineyards; a similar situation to a tasting of top class Burgundies where a Premier Cru wine might put the Grand Crus in the shade. The frequently repeated description of Nahe wines as marrying the best qualities of Rheingau and Mosel wines is certainly correct. However, when compared with Rhein wines they irritated many experts: they had not considered the special fruit and spice of Nahe wines to be possible. In its search for the ideal style of Riesling the State Domaine orientated itself primarily towards the racy, delicately fruity wines of the Mosel. In this connection the somewhat fuller body of Nahe Most importantly the differences between vintages had a decisive influence upon the character of the wines. It strikes me that one of the most important characteristics of the top vineyard sites is that next to extraordinarily noble sweet wines, they also yield 'small' wines of remarkable quality. Right at the beginning of my work at the State Domaine there was a 1962 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Natur which impressed a high ranking delegation from the International Wine Commission during the 1960s no less than the Alsatian winemaker Jean Hugel twenty years later. Altogether the 1960s yielded a wealth of top wines. 1964, for example, brought a lot of outstanding Auslese. The marvellous 1966 vintage gave long living aristocratic Rieslings, while the 1967 Auslese were classic and noble with an extremely fine botrytis character. The absolutely clear and filigree wines of the 1969 vintage crowned this decade. 1970 was another good year, topped with finely-nuanced Auslese wines. 1971 impressed with an abundance of extremely ripe top wines. 1975 brought wines which combined richness with extreme subtlety. During the 1980s the long living, classical Rieslings from the top sites of the 1983 vintage could match these achievements.
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The Lesson Stuart Pigott
Until a few years ago almost nobody was aware of the fact that the history of official vineyard classicfi'ation goes back further than the famous 1855 ranking of the leading Medoc Chateau in Bordeaux to work undertaken by the Prussian administration in the winegrowing regions west of the Rhein from 1816. The maps which were produced from this information during later decades, of which the Nahe-Map is an imprtant example, document the scientific precision with which this work was undertaken. The reproduction of these maps is not only a significant event in itself, it also gives the discussion about the the classification of Germanys' vineyards an entirely new dimension. Hitherto this debate has revolved around the criteria for such a classification. Oponents of this proposal have frequently insisted that it is impossible to find standards and methods which would guarantee a fair and objective assesment of vineyard land, free from the influence of commercial considerations. No less often has it been contended that Germany has a completely different set of wine traditions than France to which vineyard classification does not belong. They point to the Pradikat-System as Germany's distinctive form of wine classification. These historical documents not only prove that the hierarchical ranking of vineyard land is as an essential part of Germanys' wine traditions as those of France, they also provide an extremely persausive answer to those who claim that a vineyard classification in contemporary Germany would be impractical. Take these maps as the basis of a new classification and the problems which are supposedly insurmountable are almost entirely obivated. Needless to say the world, and with ft the wine world, has changed enormously since 1901. However, the potential of vineyards planted centuries ago to yield outstanding wines has not altered significantly during this time. If one compares the vineyard classification maps in The Wine Atlas of Germany published in 1995 with the Nahe Weinbau-Karte then the similarities between them are immediately apparent. Sadly, the perfectiomsm with which the Prussian State undertook its vineyards classification and planted new vineyards has not been matched by those who planted new vineyard land in recent decades. The present German wine law allows many simple wines from new inferior vineyards to carry names that were once amongst the most illustrious in the entire wine world. This makes it extremely difficult for consumers to distinguish between German wines of the highest quality and
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The unique Geological Dr. Otto Atzbach
The vineyards stretch from the southern edge of the Rhine slate Hills, extending into the side valleys of the Nahe and its tributaries, the Alsenz and the Glan. In the lower Nahe section between Wallhausen and Bingerbruck Devonian rock is to be found; this consists of phyllite, green slate and quarzite of the metamorphic „Vorsoonwald" series. This is the classic home of the Rieslings. Rock of the lower strata of new red sandstone is to be found in major parts of the Nahe region. Between Munster-Sarmsheim and Monzingen red conglomerates and freestone of the upper stratum of new red sandstone dominate the vineyard soil. In the middle Nahe section, between Bad Kreuznach and Sobernheim and in the side valleys of the Alsenz and the Glan, there are sediments Thé terraced rubble of thé quaternary penod which is to be found in ail areas adjacent to thé Nahe and its tributaries is very often covered with vines. Loess and loess-loam soils are also widespread on thé Nahe and with few exceptions are to be found in ail adjacent areas. This is thé idéal habitat of White Burgundy and Grey Burgundy.
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vineyards. For this a classification is essential. In Alsace the vintners are already harvesting the first fruits: it is now well known that the region possesses a number of Grand Crus. This is taken as a sign that great wines are produced in Alsace. The official classification of some vineyards as Grand Crus has significantly improved the standing of the entire region.