Location and wine-growing landscape
Herbolzheim lies on the edge of the Upper Rhine Plain in the Baden wine-growing region and in the wine region of Breisgau. Vine and fruit growing shape the town’s cultural landscape and its districts. The vineyard sites extend as far as the Kaiserberg, which stretches over Herbolzheim, Ettenheim and Ringsheim and offers views over the Upper Rhine Plain towards the Vosges and the Black Forest.
Climate and soils
The Breisgau has around 2,000 hours of sunshine and about 1,000 millimetres of annual rainfall. Warm air from the Rhine Plain meets cooling air currents from the Black Forest. The Kaiserberg is characterised by deep loess and loess-clay soils; at the Herbolzheim Kaiserberg, yellow calcareous marl is also described beneath humus-rich loess-clay, along with slate and granite.
Grape varieties and wine style
At the Kaiserberg near Herbolzheim, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot varieties and Gewürztraminer are grown. In the broader Kaiserberg area, you can also find Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir), Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), Weißburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Regent, Auxerrois and Cabernet varieties. Breisgau is known for red and rosé wines based on Spätburgunder; Baden white wines are described as fruit-forward and mineral, while red wines are described as full-bodied.
Historical context
Herbolzheim has been documented as a place in Breisgau since 1108. The present-day district of Bleichheim has a long-standing wine-growing tradition. Herbolzheim belongs to the Baden wine-growing region and to the wine region of Breisgau; Baden is assigned to EU wine-growing zone B and carries the protected designation of origin gU Baden.
