Location and Wine-Growing Region
Lörzweiler is a municipality in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs to the Bodenheim collective municipality. The village is located about ten kilometres south of Mainz in the wine-growing region Rheinhessen and in the Nierstein wine-growing area.
Sites and Landscape
The municipality lies on a broad slope, with the Königstuhl rising in the southern part of the municipality at about 175 metres. The surrounding agricultural land is used predominantly for wine-growing. The individual Lörzweiler vineyard sites include Hohberg, Königstuhl and Ölgild. The soils in the municipal area are characterised by valuable loess clays.
Soils and Wine Profiles
Hohberg comprises about 43 hectares at an altitude of 155 to 180 metres and is oriented towards the south to the south-east. Its deep, calcareous loess-Pararendzina loam formed from wind deposits from the Ice Age and has good water-storage capacity available to plants. The wines described there are considered fruit-forward, moderately focused on acidity and rather lightly structured.
Königstuhl comprises about 36 hectares at an altitude of 130 to 166 metres with a western to south-western orientation. The deep, strongly calcareous and clay-rich marl soil from deposits of the Tertiary Sea is particularly suitable for Burgundian grape varieties. The wines are described as comparatively full-bodied and fruit-forward with moderate acidity. Ölgild comprises about 32 hectares at an altitude of 150 to 180 metres and is oriented towards the south-east. The deep, calcareous and clay-rich marl-Pararendzina soils produce wines with a dense, full-bodied character and balanced acidity; for white wines, exotic fruit profiles are described, and for red wines, dark fruit as well as smoky-spicy notes.
Historical Background
Lörzweiler was settled as early as the Bronze Age, according to the historical municipal account. The place name was first documented in 825 as “Lorenzevillare”. In the Hohberg area, fields and vineyards of several church institutions from Mainz used to be located. The field name Königstuhl was documented in 1490 as “an dem koenigstuhle”; the link with the election of Konrad II in 1024 is referred to as local tradition.
