Location and viticulture
Weil am Rhein is located in the tri-border area of Germany, France and Switzerland at the foot of the Tüllinger Berg and belongs to the region Baden. The vineyard areas are on the slopes of the Tüllinger Berg, including in Weil am Rhein, Ötlingen and Haltingen. Especially below Ötlingen and in Haltingen, viticulture is an important form of land use.
Climate and history
The location at the Burgundy Gate allows warm Mediterranean air currents access to the vineyards. At the Weiler Schlipf, cold air streams from the Black Forest and the Alps also move in at night. Weil am Rhein was first mentioned on 27 February 786 under the name “Willa”; viticulture has been a significant part of the town’s history for centuries.
Documented vineyard sites
The Schlipf is a steep vineyard site facing south-west at about 315 to 330 metres above sea level, with a gradient of 30 to 40 per cent. Heavy loam and clay marl soils contain limestone inclusions and limestone layers that carry water. Pinot noir and Chardonnay are documented; the wines are classified as site wines, fermented spontaneously and aged in wooden casks and barriques.
The Sonnhohle lies directly below Ötlingen at about 330 metres above sea level. The steep southern slopes reach up to 50 per cent gradient and have limestone and loess soils. For this site, Pinot noir is documented, which ripens in wooden casks and barriques after spontaneous fermentation. The Stiege is located in a small hollow of the Tüllinger Berg at about 320 metres above sea level and has a west-facing slope with a gradient of 10 to 20 per cent. Its soils consist of loess and calcareous clay marl; Gutedel is grown, which is aged in wooden casks after spontaneous fermentation.
Cultivation and ageing
For the vineyard plots on the Tüllinger Berg, strip hand-harvesting, reduced yields and natural ground cover between the rows are documented. Cultivation is carried out without synthetic or chemical vineyard agents. In the cellar, spontaneous fermentation, longer lees ageing, a limited use of sulphur and predominantly unfiltered wines are among the documented methods.
