Location and Natural Region
Offstein is a municipality in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate and lies in the Eisbach valley in Rheinhessen. The Eisbach flows through the town. With an annual rainfall of about 450 to 550 millimetres and a mean annual temperature of 9 to 10 °C, the area belongs to the driest parts of the Alzey-Worms district.
Vineyard Sites
The Offstein wine-growing area includes the individual sites Engelsberg and Schloßgarten. Engelsberg covers 131 hectares, lies at about 135 to 145 metres above sea level, and is oriented to the south to south-west. Its deep, calcareous, loamy to silty loess-Pararendzina soils offer good conditions for storing water and for root penetration. In Schloßgarten, loess-colluviosol soils with a humus-rich topsoil layer and very good root penetrability are widespread.
Viticulture and History
A document from the years 766 to 768 attests to the exchange of vineyard and arable land and thus to early viticulture in Offstein. The town is first mentioned for this period in the Lorscher Codex. Later, it was associated, among other things, with the Lords of Lichtenberg, the Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg, the Lords of Oberstein and the Electoral Palatinate.
Historical Vineyard Names
The name Engelsberg is documented in 1820 as “auf dem Engelsberg”. Schloßgarten is associated with Oberstein Castle and the Lords of Oberstein. Both sites belong, within the Offstein municipal area, to the Wonnegau and the Domblick region. In Engelsberg, Riesling and Weißburgunder are documented; at the edge of the town, at the exit towards Hohen-Sülzen, a trullo stands.
