Bad Honnef

Bad Honnef lies on the Rhine at the foot of the Siebengebirge in North Rhine-Westphalia and is part of the wine-growing region Mittelrhein. The district of Rhöndorf includes the Bad Honnef section of the single vineyard Drachenfels. A mild climate and the proximity to the Rhine shape the geographic conditions.

Legally, the vineyard is designated as the single vineyard Rhöndorfer Drachenfels in the quality winegrowing area Mittelrhein, Bereich Siebengebirge, Großlage Königswinterer Petersberg. The area recorded by law is 7.4 hectares. The vineyard plots lie at about 60 to 140 metres above sea level, around 300 metres from the Rhine, and have slopes facing south to south-west with gradients of up to 60 percent.

The Drachenfels is a volcanic trachyte body that formed as a near-surface intrusion dome in older volcanic tuffs. The soils of the vineyard consist of mineral-rich trachyte soils and clay-containing greywacke soils. Following land consolidation in the Siebengebirge from 1972 to 1977, wire training is used predominantly there. The long-term average yields are around 60 to 80 hectolitres of must per hectare and vary depending on the weather.

For the vineyards of the Siebengebirge, among others Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Portugieser, Spätburgunder, Gewürztraminer, Kerner, Scheurebe, Ruländer, Grauburgunder, Weißburgunder, Frühburgunder, Optima, Dornfelder and Dunkelfelder are documented. Around ten percent of plantings are accounted for by red grape varieties, above all Portugieser and Spätburgunder. A documented Riesling Beerenauslese from the Rhöndorfer Drachenfels was awarded for the 2003 vintage. According to local records, viticulture in Bad Honnef began more than 1,100 years ago; around 1400, the vineyards in Honnef and Selhof extended as far as the Rhine. Around 1900, viticulture in Selhof and in central Honnef ended as a result of severe pest damage and the development into a spa resort.