Location on the Neckar
Mundelsheim is a wine-growing municipality in the Ludwigsburg district in Baden-Württemberg and lies on a bend of the Neckar. The municipality is situated between steep vineyard terraces and the Neckar valley. The municipal area extends from about 188 to 334 metres above sea level; the town itself lies at around 195 metres in the Neckar floodplain and belongs to the wine-growing region Württemberg.
Steep slopes and Muschelkalk
According to local wine-growing information, the south-facing vineyard slopes receive, in part, additional sunshine through reflections from the Neckar. The slopes are linked to Muschelkalk formations. The Mundelsheim Käsberg faces south to south-east and has a gradient of 40 to 70 per cent. Its terraces and numerous dry-stone walls make the steep terrain usable for winegrowing.
The steep slopes on the Käsberg and in the Mühlbächer are still worked by hand. Work on the steep Rozenberg is also laborious; the grapes from the south-facing slopes are hand-picked in autumn.
Grape varieties and wines
On the Rozenberg, Lemberger, Riesling, Blue Spätburgunder, Schwarzriesling and Samtrot are documented as traditional grape varieties. For the Mundelsheim Käsberg, the VDP Trollinger is listed as a classified grape variety. The site is designated there as a private VDP.ERSTE LAGE with a classified area of 1.93 hectares; this classification is not part of German wine law.
The documented range of wines from the Mundelsheim cooperative includes varietal wines, category wines, steep-slope wines, wines aged in wooden casks, sparkling wine (Sekt) and Secco.
History and joint development
Vineyards in Mundelsheim are first documented in a deed dating from 1316. In the Middle Ages, winegrowing became an important source of income, and wine from the town was transported along the Neckar as far as northern Germany, the Netherlands and England. In 1903, many local winegrowers founded the Mundelsheim winegrowers’ cooperative in order to market their wines more effectively.
The grapes from nearly 600 Mundelsheim winegrowers have been processed together for more than a century in the local cooperative cellar. The Käsberg cellar combines traditional and modern cellar work with technically modern equipment.
