Location in the Lahn Valley
Dausenau lies on the Lahn in the narrow lower Lahn Valley, east of Bad Ems and to the south-east of Nassau in Rhineland-Palatinate. The settlement is situated at about 94 metres above sea level on a meander of the Lahn. The Nassauer Lahn Valley is a winding valley up to 200 metres deep with steep riverbanks and gentler glide slopes; around Dausenau it cuts 150 to more than 200 metres into the Rhenish Slate Mountains.
Winegrowing history
The oldest currently documented reference to winegrowing in Dausenau dates from 1300. In the land register of 1810, 53 Morgen and 71 Ruthen 2 Schuh of vineyards were recorded in three quality classes. The historic winegrowing area of Unterberg extended from the side of Bad Ems via Hasenberg and Breitwasen as far as towards Dausenau. Because of the limited suitable elevations, the vineyards were concentrated in a comparatively narrow zone; on the steeper slopes towards Nassau they could be laid out in overlapping strips.
Hasenberg and the Middle Rhine
The vineyard of Hasenberg was given up as a commercial vineyard in 1990; in the same year the last wine was harvested there. A documented wine from the 1990 vintage from the Dausenau Hasenberg was Riesling. Dausenau belongs to the official geographical delimitation of the protected designation of origin Middle Rhine.
