Location and landscape
Löchgau is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg and lies on the edge of the Stromberg range in the Stuttgart region. The municipal area comprises 1,095 hectares, of which 277 hectares are woodland. The landscape ranges from steep vineyard slopes via fields and meadows to contiguous forest areas. Löchgau lies at an altitude of around 260 metres; to the west, the terrain rises towards Freudental to around 285 metres.
Climate and soils
The municipality is located on a climatically favourable high plain in the southern Stromberg foothills. Keuper formations occur in the area; to the north-west of the municipality there is a band of Gipskeuper, while higher areas are partly covered by loess. In the Steinbach vineyard near Besigheim, Muschelkalk soils shape the surroundings; in the Berg vineyard in the direction of Freudental, Keuper soils prevail.
Viticulture in Löchgau
Viticulture is documented for the sites of Steinbach and Berg. Both sites are predominantly steep and require a high proportion of manual labour. The area under vine was stated in 2014 as about 21 hectares; around 1900 it was about 45 hectares. The documented main grape varieties include Trollinger, Riesling, Lemberger, Schwarzriesling and Kerner. The range therefore includes red varieties such as Trollinger, Lemberger and Schwarzriesling as well as white varieties such as Riesling and Kerner.
Winemaking and single-vineyard site
The grapes from Löchgau are picked by hand and, after harvest, taken to the Felsengarten winery in Hessigheim, where the wine is mostly made there. The single-vineyard site Felsengarten also includes Löchgau. As early as 1939, Löchgau producers joined the joint grape-picking regulations of the Besigheimer Winegrowers’ Association; in 1994, in cooperation with the Felsengarten winery in Besigheim, a distinct Löchgau wine was brought onto the market.
