Jessen

Jessen (Elster) is located in the east of Saxony-Anhalt on the River Schwarze Elster. The town area comprises 44 local districts and covers 351.95 km². The surrounding area belongs to the landscape unit Annaburger Heide and Schwarze-Elster Valley; about nine kilometres north-west of Jessen, the Schwarze Elster flows into the Elbe.

The landscape connects low-lying and floodplain areas with gently rolling hills. The Jessener Mountains include south-facing vineyard sites. The area is shaped by an inland lowland influenced strongly by continental conditions, with around 598 millimetres of annual precipitation and a mean annual temperature of 8.6 °C. The southern slopes of the Jessener Mountains are considered thermally favoured, while in the Elbe lowlands late and early frosts as well as foggy days occur more often.

The Gorrenberg vineyard site in Jessen covers about ten hectares and is not assigned to any designated major site. Its soils, which were formed mostly during the Ice Age, consist of loam and sand. The Gorrenberg has been documented as early as 1420. In the 15th and 16th centuries, winegrowing in the Jessen area reached around 300 hectares; after the transfer of the former Saxon office Schweinitz to Prussia in 1815, it declined. After the Second World War, only around 1.25 hectares remained, before, in the 1970s, 3.2 hectares were replanted, including with Riesling, Müller-Thurgau and Scheurebe.

For winegrowing purposes, the Jessen Gorrenberg and the approximately six-hectare Katzenzehe in Kleindröben, which is likewise not assigned to any designated major site, are counted under the Saxony winegrowing region. At the Gorrenberg, Riesling, Kerner, Müller-Thurgau, Weissburgunder, Traminer, Chardonnay, Schwarzriesling, Regent, Acolon and Spätburgunder are documented. In the Katzenzehe, Müller-Thurgau accounts for the largest share of the vineyard area. The Gorrenberg is documented for dry and semi-dry quality wines as well as dry Kabinett wines from Riesling, Scheurebe, Kerner and Cabernet blanc.