Vine growing and landscape
Alzey is a wine-growing community in the Qualitätswein region Rheinhessen. The Alzey wine sites belong to the Wonnegau and to the Großlage Sybillenstein. The area lies in the Rheinhessen tableland and hilly landscape, with high plateaus shaped by valleys and depressions. In the western Alzey hilly area, elevations reach about 310 metres above sea level.
Climate and soils
For Alzey, an annual average of about 9.5 °C and around 1,700 hours of sunshine are given. Rheinhessen has, in the long term, annual rainfall of about 490 to 560 millimetres; dry periods occur in spring and in late summer. In Alzey, calcareous loess and loess marl occur over tertiary marl and limestone; in addition, pararendzina and rendzina.
Single sites
The Alzey Kapellenberg, also known as Weinheimer Kapellenberg, is a single site within the Alzey cadastral area. Its soils include loess pararendzina as well as red shale-rigosol. The south-facing and warm Alzey Roterfels belongs as a single site to the Großlage Sybillenstein; there, loess pararendzina and lime marl-terra fusca are found. The Alzey Römerberg has been documented for the year 1842 under the name “auf dem Römerberg” and is associated with Roman finds.
History and wine-making
In today’s district of Weinheim, wine-growing was already highly developed by the time the settlement was mentioned in the year 771. In 1916, Adolf Seubert endowed the town of Alzey with plots of land, agricultural areas and vineyards, thereby laying the foundation for the municipal winery. There, among other varieties, Riesling, Burgunder varieties, Scheurebe, Huxelrebe and Siegerrebe are grown. Documented work in the vineyard includes the annual pruning of vines, bending the shoots, work on the canopy and selection for late harvest. In the cellar, the grapes are gently pressed, the must is clarified and the wines are matured in tanks separately by variety; red wines ripen longer than white wines.
