Location and landscape
Monsheim is located in the southern Wonnegau in Rheinhessen, in the Alzey-Worms district, immediately to the west of Worms. The Pfrimmtal valley is characteristic of the landscape.
Climate and viticulture
Rheinhessen has an average annual temperature of 11.1 °C, an average annual rainfall of 530 mm, a growing season of 280 days and an average of 1,970 hours of sunshine per year. The municipal area comprises 278 hectares of vineyard land: 177 hectares in the Monsheim district and 101 hectares in the Kriegsheim district.
Monsheim belongs to the legally defined geographic area of the protected designation of origin Rheinhessen. The Monsheim Rose Garden covers 107 hectares and lies at around 130 to 175 metres above sea level, with a south to south-west exposure. The site is in the Kriegsheim cadastral area and is also known as the Kriegsheim Rose Garden.
Sites and grape varieties
In the Monsheim Rose Garden there are loess-pararendzina soils, which contain sand, gravel and loam fractions. For the vineyards there, Chardonnay, Grauburgunder, Spätburgunder and Riesling are documented. One producer describes Rieslings from gravel-containing parcels as mineral-influenced, and wines from loess parcels as fruit-forward.
The Monsheim Silberberg lies to the west of Monsheim and extends towards the beginning of the Zellertal. Vineyards with a south exposure are documented there, as well as loam and calcareous loam soils. Grown there, among other varieties, are Chardonnay, Grauburgunder, Spätburgunder, Frühburgunder, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Mitos and Weißburgunder. Wines from this site are described by a local producer as full-bodied and deeply structured.
Historical evidence
Monsheim is first documented in an official record in the year 767. At that time, a vineyard in Mark Munulfesheim, which is assigned to today’s Monsheim, was donated to the Lorsch Abbey. The Monsheim Rose Garden is documented in 1750 under the name im Rosengarten.
