Kehlberg

Kehlberg is a vineyard site in Rottendorf in the wine-growing region Franconia. The vineyard plots lie to the east of the village: one is to the north of federal highway B8 above the Reißbach at Hasenberg, and more lie to the north of the industrial estate around Hühnleinsberg and Kehlberg. The Hasenberg plot is oriented to the south-west, while the other plots are oriented to the south-east. Kehlberg is listed in the Bavarian vineyard register as an admissible designation for Rottendorf in the MainSüden area.

Winegrowing in Rottendorf has been documented since the first half of the 11th century. A harvest order from 1546 names Kehlberg as a local winegrowing district. The current vineyard site was entered into the vineyard register in 1989 by the Rottendorf winemaker Willi Grimm with the support of Heiner Vogel. The currently documented cultivated area covers about 1.2 hectares and is farmed by the Amend, Vogel and Körner families.

Among others, Silvaner, Johanniter, Domina, Regent, Cabernet Dorsa, Bacchus and Müller-Thurgau are planted in the site. A plot established in 1901 is documented as a mixed planting (gemischter Satz) with Yellow, Red and Blue Silvaner, Red Traminer, Elbling, Putzscheere, Bukettrebe, Vogelfränkisch, Muscateller, Riesling and Müller-Thurgau. Five vines of the Putzscheere variety were identified there; the vines from 1901 are described as being own-rooted.

The vines of the 1901 plot are spaced about 70 centimetres apart and are maintained by hand because of the close planting. In 2012, the plot received a new trellis training system following a Champagne concept adapted to the high planting density. The different grape varieties of the historical mixed planting are harvested and processed together. The three participating winemaker families process and mature their wines themselves. A planned museum vineyard plot was worked to a depth of about one metre, planted with Silvaner clone Wü-9929, and is also used as a propagation vineyard.