Location and landscape
Weinsberg lies in Württemberg in the Swabian-Franconian Forest Mountains, between the Neckar valley to the west and the Löwenstein Mountains to the east. The landscape links valley floors with wine-growing hillsides. Above the historic town centre rises the Burgberg with the ruins of Weibertreu.
Viticulture
With more than 400 hectares of vineyard area, almost half of the municipality’s land used for agriculture is devoted to viticulture. In Weinsberg, Riesling, Trollinger, Lemberger, Burgundy varieties, Kerner and Muscateller are grown, among others.
Vineyard sites and soils
The town’s vineyard sites include Altenberg, Dezberg, Ranzenberg, Schemelsberg, Steinacker and Wildenberg. The vineyard soils cultivated by the State Wineries developed from calcareous Keuper and are predominantly deep and fertile. Schemelsberg features gypsum Keuper as well as loam to clay-loam soils; its south to south-south-west facing hillsides lie at about 240 to 280 metres above sea level and reach slopes of 30 to 40 per cent.
Training and grapevine breeding
In Weinsberg, a viticulture school was founded in 1868. The present-day State Institute for Teaching and Research imparts knowledge and carries out research in viticulture, oenology, fruit growing and distilling. There the grape varieties Kerner were developed, a cross between Trollinger and Riesling, as well as Dornfelder, a cross between Herold grape and Helfensteiner.
