Location and landscape
Gau-Heppenheim is a municipality in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate and lies in the winegrowing region Rheinhessen. The town is shaped by vineyards and is described by the municipality as a winegrowing community. Rheinhessen is characterised by limestone plateaus, wide hollows, gentle hills and low-lying areas. The vineyards are located mostly on slopes with an average gradient of about seven percent.
Vineyard sites and soils
The documented single vineyard sites include the Pfarrgarten and the Schloßberg. The Pfarrgarten is an old vineyard site of the former local parsonage estate. Its deep, calcareous clayey soils belong to the Mergelpelosol type and were formed from clay-rich deposits of the Tertiary sea.
The Schloßberg lies at an elevation of 200 to 280 metres and is oriented to the north-west. There both shallow to medium-deep, stony and sandy-loamy limestone and Rendzina soils occur, as well as deep, calcareous clayey marl and Pelosol soils with a high proportion of swell-capable clay.
Winegrowing and wine style
The Gau-Heppenheimer vineyard sites are assigned to the Nierstein area and to the Großlage Petersberg in Rheinhessen. In and around Gau-Heppenheim there are eight winegrowing businesses; the vineyards are cultivated both organically and conventionally. In Rheinhessen, white grape varieties are particularly common, including Riesling, white Burgundy varieties, Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner. Dornfelder and Spätburgunder are among the leading red varieties.
Wines from the Pfarrgarten are described as full-bodied and dense, with moderate acidity, a creamy texture and ripe fruit aromas. The limestone-influenced parcels of the Schloßberg stand for balanced acidity as well as mineral and chalky characteristics. Wines from Rheinhessen are subject to the protected designation of origin Rheinhessen.
History
Gau-Heppenheim was first mentioned in 790 as Hepfanheim, when ownership was transferred to the Lorsch Abbey. Archaeological finds provide evidence of prehistoric, Celtic and Roman settlement. An earlier castle or fortification complex is documented around 1500 and was destroyed in 1766 by lightning strike and fire. The place name Schloßberg is connected with the former ownership of the Lords of Heppenheim, called vom Saal. The municipality previously bore the name Heppenheim im Loch and was renamed in 1903 to distinguish it from other places called Heppenheim to Gau-Heppenheim.
