Location and landscape
Sinsheim is located in the Kraichgau region of Baden-Württemberg, on the Elsenz, and is a significant urban centre of the region. The municipal area includes the wine-growing villages of Hilsbach and Weiler. The landscape is shaped by broad valleys, gentle to pronounced slopes, and individual hills covered with vineyards.
Climate and soils
The Kraichgau wine-growing area around Sinsheim receives around 1,300 hours of sunshine during the growing season and approximately 750 to 850 millimetres of rainfall annually. Protection provided by the Odenwald and the northern Black Forest contributes to a comparatively mild viticulture climate. In the wider Sinsheim area, Muschelkalk and loess soils occur; in the Kraichgau, Keuper and Buntsandstein are also found, often overlain by loess.
Viticulture in Sinsheim
The Sinsheim vineyards belong to the Baden growing area and to the Kraichgau sub-region. Linked to Sinsheim are the sites of Eichelberg, Goldberg, Sonnenberg and Steinsberg. The Hilsbacher Eichelberg is a distinctive inselberg south of the town; a cadastral reorganisation there reassigned vineyard plots and paths and made machine cultivation easier. The wine-growing area is particularly associated with Riesling, Grauburgunder, Weißburgunder, Müller-Thurgau, Auxerrois, Spätburgunder, Schwarzriesling and Lemberger. The wines are described as having distinctive aromas, gentle richness and refreshing minerality.
Steinsberg and history
The Steinsberg site lies below Steinsberg Castle in the district of Weiler. The distinctive hill was formed from a nephelinite basalt cone; in the surrounding area, basalt tuff and Upper Keuper come to the surface. Sinsheim is first documented in a copy of a deed from the Lorsch monastery dated 770/771. Steinsberg Castle was first mentioned in 1109; its surviving core from the Staufer period was created from about 1200.
