Location and Classification
Alte Lay is a classified single vineyard site in Walporzheim, a district of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, in the Ahr winegrowing region, Ahr. It belongs to the Walporzheim/Ahrtal area and to the Großlage Klosterberg. The official vineyard sites directory 2024 assigns the site of the Gemarkung Ahrweiler and lists 13.6 hectares of planted vineyard area.
Topography and Soils
The vineyards are located at an altitude of about 150 metres and slope down towards the Ahr with a southern to south-easterly aspect. The steep sections reach a gradient of up to 50 percent. Many small and very small terraces are bounded by slate stone walls. The documented soils consist of greywacke, sandy loam and weathered slate.
Grape Varieties and Classification
In the classified grape varieties, the VDP vineyard profile lists Spätburgunder and Frühburgunder; Spätburgunder is explicitly named as being cultivated there. Alte Lay is listed in the official vineyard sites directory 2024 as a single vineyard site in the protected Ahr Qualitätsweinbaugebiet and is classified by the VDP as VDP.GROSSE LAGE.
Name, History and Cultivation
The name element “Lay” is derived from a Celtic word for rock or slate rock; the site is associated with a distinctive rocky outcrop. In 2017, significant parts of the former vineyard site Domlay were assigned to Alte Lay, with the exception of the Heckenbachtal, which was assigned to Himmelchen. For parcels in the Walporzheimer Alte Lay, Pollig & Schmidt document permanent ground cover, the avoidance of herbicides, the greatest possible reduction of synthetic plant protection products, as well as a yield reduction to about 35 to 50 hectolitres per hectare, depending on the vintage.
