Location and Classification
Droßelborn, officially Drosselborn, is a single vineyard in the cadastral district Appenheim. It belongs to the sub-region of Bingen and the Großlage Abtey in Rheinhessen. In the vineyards register it carries the code 710102; for the 2024 harvest status list, 34.3 hectares of planted area are recorded.
Soil and Aspect
The regional vineyard site profile classifies the soil as loess-pararendzina. This refers to calcareous wind-blown material deposited during the Ice Ages. A documented plot of Frühburgunder shows a slightly warmer loess top layer over calcareous rock, faces west and is exposed to the wind. A St. Laurent plot lies on a gentle slope with a south-west exposure.
Grape Varieties and Wines
For Drosselborn, Frühburgunder and St. Laurent are documented. The Frühburgunder was vinified as a dry red wine with 13.5% alcohol by volume and 0.1 grams of residual sugar per litre. The St. Laurent comes from a 25-year-old vineyard and was produced as a red wine with 13.0% alcohol by volume and 2.6 grams of residual sugar per litre.
Harvest and Maturation
The documented Frühburgunder grapes were selectively hand-harvested. The open, windy site is intended to protect the early-ripening grapes from botrytis and to slow their ripening. The wine was fermented with natural yeasts in open vats, hand-inoculated, stored for 18 months in French oak barrels, and bottled unfiltered. For the St. Laurent, selective hand harvests also took place, fermentation with wild yeasts in open vats and hand-inoculating; afterwards it matured for twelve months in large wooden casks and was bottled unfiltered.
