Location and classification
The Jessener Gorrenberg is a single vineyard site in Jessen in Saxony-Anhalt. For wine-law purposes, it is assigned to the protected wine-growing region of Saxony and the Elstertal area. A large district is not specified.
Relief, climate and soils
The vineyards are located on the south-facing slopes of the Jessener Mountains. These are an erosion remnant of a thrust moraine formed during the Saale Cold Age and rise to nearly 60 metres above the surrounding area. Due to their exposure to sunshine, their proximity to the Elster floodplain and the comparatively rapid warming of the soil, the hillside sites are considered to be favoured by warmth. The inland climate is strongly continental; annual rainfall is about 598 millimetres, and the average annual temperature is 8.6 °C. As the most important documented substrates, ice-age clays and sands are named.
Vines and wines
The vineyard area of the Jessener Gorrenberg comprises about 10 hectares. Documented varieties include Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Scheurebe, Traminer and Chardonnay. The wines include white wines under the designations Qualitätswein, Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese.
History
The place-name Gorrenberg is already documented for the year 1420 as „der agker uff dem Gorrenberge“. In the 15th and 16th centuries, winegrowing around Jessen reached about 300 hectares. After the Second World War, the vineyard area on the Jessener Mountains fell to approximately 1.25 hectares. In the 1970s, 3.2 hectares were newly planted with Riesling, Müller-Thurgau and Scheurebe.
