Location and Classification
Dautenpflänzer is a VDP.GROSSE LAGE® in Münster-Sarmsheim in the Nahe wine-growing region. The vineyard site forms the central part of the Kapellenberg. As a classified grape variety, Riesling is listed.
Site and Geology
The site, oriented to the south-southeast, lies at around 100 to 200 metres above sea level. The slope gradients are given as 15 to 60 percent; another description states around 40 percent. In a side valley of the Nahe protected from west winds, there is a protected, warm site environment. The geological subsoil consists of Devonian quartzite and slate, and above it lies a water-retaining layer of loess loam.
Cultivation and Grape Varieties
The VDP lists 4.70 hectares as classified land. Kruger-Rumpf describes Dautenpflänzer as an amphitheatre-shaped site of around 4.5 hectares and farms there 1.7 hectares. Alongside Riesling, there are plantings of Scheurebe; the Scheurebe vines of the winery are, according to its information, more than 50 years old.
Wines and History
A documented Dautenpflänzer Riesling GG is made into a VDP.GROSSE-LAGE wine in large wooden barrels. For this wine, ripe stone fruit and floral notes, pronounced acidity, and a mineral character are described. A Dautenpflänzer Riesling Spätlese is fermented spontaneously in old small barrels after the hand harvest, following the colour change of the grapes from yellow to orange, and fermentation is stopped in a temperature-controlled manner at around 70 grams of residual sugar per litre. The name Dautenpflänzer is already attested on a historic wine-growing map of the Nahe from 1901, and is linked with “Daute”, the name for a young grapevine seedling.
