Location and landscape
Urbar is a municipality in the Rhein-Hunsrück district in Rhineland-Palatinate. It lies on the eastern edge of the Hunsrück, above the Upper Middle Rhine, near Oberwesel. The settlement-like basin location is at about 260 to 280 metres above sea level and belongs to the natural region of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, with the Sankt Goar gorge of the Rhine and the adjacent terrace elevations.
Vine growing on the Beulsberg
The Beulsberg is a steep-slope vineyard in Urbar and, as a single vineyard, in the wine-growing region Mittelrhein, Loreley area and Großlage Schloss Schönburg, registered. In the harvest directory for 2024, 2.4 hectares of planted vineyard area are listed there. The site is one of the Mittelrhein sites with calcareous slate soils.
Grape varieties and vinification
For the Urbar Beulsberg, Riesling and Spätburgunder are documented. A dry Riesling Spätlese and a dry Spätburgunder Réserve are recorded. The 2022 vintage of the Spätburgunder was aged for two years in barriques. The mild climate of the Middle Rhine is influenced by the Rhine’s capacity to store heat and favours an early start to the growing season as well as a long growing period.
History
Urbar was first mentioned in 1246 and 1264 under the name Urbach; later, forms of the place-name Urbar developed from this. Since 1258, fruit and wine tithe rights of the Oberwesel churches Liebfrauen and St. Martin have been documented. Historically, the grapes had to be carried uphill from the steep vineyards on the Beulsberg because there were no roads that could be driven on. In 1973, Urbar was incorporated into Oberwesel, and in 1999 it regained its municipal independence.
