A clear profile: the Palatinate wine-growing region

The Palatinate wine-growing region has many distinctive elements: A long tradition extending back to the Romans, a unique cohesion (the wine-growing zone to the east of the Haardt is 85 kilometers long and just a few kilometers in width), an outstanding market importance (every third bottle of wine bought in Germany originates from the Palatinate region), a particularly mild climate (in some years the amount of sunshine exceeds more than 2000 hours) as well as a remarkable size: With almost 23,400 hectares, the Palatinate wine-growing region is the second largest wine-growing region in Germany and has a forth of the German wine-growing acreage.

The world’s largest Riesling area

But in particular, the Palatinate region has – irrespective of the large variety of vines grown in the area – a clear profile: The Palatinate region is the Riesling country par excellence. The cultivated area of the »King of white wines« is steadily increasing, and with 5455 hectares it was the largest Riesling area in the world in 2008. The quality is also impressive: Top-quality Rieslings from the Mittelhaardt region, the northern-most wine-growing area of the Palatinate have been the most-expensive and most-desired wines in the world in the past, and were, for example, served at the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1869. Today’s successors to the previous generations of wine producers follow in this tradition. They win prizes at »mundus vini«, at the »best of Riesling« and other renowned wine competitions.

Outstanding quality of the Palatinate red wines

The Palatinate region also stands for top-quality red wines. Almost 40 percent of the vineyards are cultivated with red grape vines, and the region is thus Germany’s largest red wine-growing region. Dornfelder plays the leading role here, with Spätburgunder (pinot noir) and Portugieser being of particular significance. The outstanding quality of the Palatinate red wines is proven year-by-year with the German red wine prize, where the red varieties from the German Wine Route are regularly and repeatedly represented on the podium. The Palatinate region is the home of many top-quality red wines.

St. Laurent and other specialties

The Palatinate region is the market leader for Weißherbst wines (rosé), those crisp, salmon-colored summer wines, usually made from the Portugieser grape variety. A speciality of the Palatinate region is the St. Laurent wine, which has been rescued from extinction by wine-growers in the region, and today it delights wine lovers with velvety, full-bodied red wines. The wineries place special emphasis on modern, international varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Sauvignon blanc. They flourish magnificently on the edge of the Palatinate Forrest and round off the product range of Palatinate wineries as a fine niche product.