Location and landscape
Neumagen-Dhron is a municipality in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate and comprises the local districts of Neumagen, Dhron and Papiermühle. The municipality lies on the Moselle and includes vineyards in the Moselle valley as well as in the side valley of the Dhron. The Dhron takes in the Kleine Dhron at Papiermühle and flows into the Moselle in Dhron; the Zweibach flows into the Moselle opposite Neumagen.
Vineyard sites and geology
The documented vineyard sites include, among others, the Neumagen Sonnenuhr, the Rosengärtchen, the Laudamusberg, the Engelgrube, the Dhroner Roterd and the Dhroner Hofberger. The vineyards of the region are in part steep and terraced, with slopes of more than 30 degrees. The Dhroner Hofberg at the mouth of the Dhron is a steep vineyard, oriented to the south-west, with grey slate, iron oxide interlayers and little topsoil.
Grape varieties and wine production
Producers in Neumagen-Dhron grow Riesling, Müller-Thurgau and Dornfelder. For another producer, 90 per cent Riesling as well as Chardonnay and Rivaner are documented on three hectares. The description covers dry, delicately sweet and sweet Rieslings from the Hofberger and Roterd sites. Work in the steep slopes is carried out mostly by hand, as machines can only rarely be used there. One producer also documents a slow fermentation and a restrained intervention in the cellar.
Roman wine-growing history
For Neumagen-Dhron, wine-growing and wine trading have been documented since Roman times for about 2,000 years. In 1878, a Roman tomb monument was found in Neumagen together with a ship loaded with wine barrels. The find is linked to a Roman wine merchant, dated to around 220 AD. The Roman settlement of Noviomagus also had a late antique fortification.
