Bereich Wonnegau

Climate

Wonnegau lies in a partial rain shadow of the Hunsrück to the west and the Pfälzer Wald and Donnersberg to the southwest, giving it some of the lowest annual rainfall in Germany (often under 500mm). Without the Rhines moderating mass it runs cooler at night than Bereich Nierstein, with sharper diurnal swings, and harvests run later. The combination of dry summers, cool nights and water-retentive clay-marl is what gives the top dry Rieslings their tension and slow ripening curve.

Terroir

Bedrock is dominated by Tertiary marine sediments of the Mainzer Becken: heavy bluish-grey clay-marl (Tonmergel) over deep Kalkstein limestone, with significant chalk and gypsum at certain sites. Morstein in Westhofen sits on stony Kalkstein-Tonmergel; Kirchspiel mixes limestone with loess-loam; Hubacker in Dalsheim is loess over limestone. The Zellertal at the southwestern edge against the Pfalz is the geological exception: Permian rhyolite porphyry and basalt fragments, geologically tied to the Donnersberg volcanic complex rather than the surrounding limestone basin.

Typical Aromas