Location and winegrowing
Erpolzheim is a municipality in the Verbandsgemeinde of Freinsheim in the district of Bad Dürkheim and lies in the Pfalz region. The municipality is situated in the Isenach valley lowlands at the northern edge of the Bad Dürkheim basin. Its vineyards are located as hilly sites along the Haardt edge. Around 150 hectares of vineyard area belong to Erpolzheim; in terms of wine law, the municipality is part of the Pfalz winegrowing region and the Mittelhaardt–Deutsche Weinstraße area.
Sites and soils
As collective large sites, Erpolzheim has Goldberg, Kirschgarten and Kieselberg. Kirschgarten is characterised by loamy sandy soils. In Kieselberg there are loamy, often gravelly sands, as well as areas with weathered limestone. Goldberg features sandy loam and loamy sand, which often contain gravel.
Grape varieties and wine styles
The documented white grape varieties include Weißburgunder, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Kerner, Morio-Muskat, Müller-Thurgau, Grauburgunder, Silvaner and Riesling. In the red wine range, Dornfelder, Schwarzriesling, Portugieser, Regent and Sankt Laurent are grown. In Erpolzheim, white wines, red wines and sparkling wines are produced.
Historical development
A document dated 25 April 777 records the donation of a vineyard in Erpholfesheim marca. For the year 1927, around 80 winegrowing businesses are recorded with about 117 hectares of vineyard area. In 1934, a cooperative was founded that received the grapes of its members centrally, processed, matured and marketed them as bottled wine under the direction of trained master cellarmen.
