Location and History
Mayschoß is a local municipality in the district of Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Altenahr. The town is situated in the Ahr Valley and comprises the Laach district. The settlement area lies in a broad valley basin shaped by the Umlaufberg Etzhardt. Mayschoß was first mentioned in 1106 under the name Meinscozen.
Winegrowing in the Ahr Valley
The vineyards around Mayschoß are located on steep terraces and slopes along the Ahr. Many of these areas are cultivated by hand; in addition to single-post training and wire trellis systems, monorack railways are also used in particularly steep sites. River bends, rock formations and the orientation of the vineyards shape a protected, small-scale mesoclimate. The soils consist mainly of shale weathering and greywacke, sometimes supplemented by loess or loess-like soils.
Burgberg, Laacherberg and Mönchberg
The Burgberg comprises the former sites Lochmühlerley and Silberberg. Its vineyards rise on the Saffenberg slope and are partially developed by a monorack railway. The area is described as 47 hectares, of which 28 hectares are planted; the slopes facing from west to east lie at elevations of 140 to 250 metres, about half of which are considered steep. The Laacherberg lies above Laach, is oriented south to south-west and comprises 49 hectares, of which 15 hectares are planted. The altitude ranges from 150 to 260 metres, with 70 per cent of the area being steep. The Mönchberg includes the former site Schieferlay and connects south-facing steep terraces around a bend in the Ahr with partly newly organised vineyard areas at the northern edge of the Mayschoß basin.
Grape Varieties and Winegrowing Tradition
In Mayschoß, among others, Spätburgunder (Pinot noir), Frühburgunder, Riesling, Regent, Domina, Dornfelder, Portugieser, Müller-Thurgau, Weißburgunder and Solaris are grown. For the Laacherberg, a dry Spätburgunder with a strong, Burgundy-influenced profile and a mineral character has been documented. A dry Mönchberg Spätburgunder originates from old vines on barren slate soils; for the wine described, a maximum yield of 3,500 litres per hectare is stated. On 20 December 1868, 18 winemakers from Mayschoß founded a winegrowers’ cooperative. After the merger with the Altenahr cooperative, the Mayschoß-Altenahr winegrowers’ cooperative was formed in 1982. The cooperative began in 1873 with the construction of vaulted cellar tunnels; further cellars for barrel storage followed in 1888 and 1889. The wines from Mayschoß belong to the protected designation of origin Ahr.
