Location and classification
Kirchberg is a single-vineyard site in Eckelsheim in the Bingen area. It belongs to the Großlage Rheingrafenstein and lies at the southern boundary of the Eckelsheim cadastral district near the ruins of the Beller Church. In the wine sites register of Rhineland-Palatinate, the site is listed under number 710504 with 50.8 hectares of planted vineyard area.
Soils and geology
The gravel-rich sandy soils warm up quickly, but in dry years they can suffer from drought stress. They consist of coastal sands, gravels and pebbles from marine tertiary deposits. In addition, there are volcanic parcels with Rigosol, light magmatic rock (from the Rotliegend), stony sandy loam and an acidic soil reaction.
The local geology points to an earlier coastline and a surf cliff, when the area was covered by a subtropical sea about 30 million years ago.
Wine style
The gravel-rich sandy soils are associated with early-drinking, fresh and fruit-forward wines with lively acidity, as well as notes of citrus fruits or green apple. The volcanic soils stand for mineral, smoky and stony notes, lively freshness and pronounced acidity; the wines produced from them benefit from ripeness.
Name and recorded wines
The name Kirchberg refers to the Beller Church. Its Marien altar was completed in 1490 and the nave in 1519. From the site, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Ortega are documented: a dry Riesling as Eckelsheimer Kirchberg from Weingut Sina Mertz, a Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2022 vintage, and an Ortega Auslese from the 2024 vintage from Weingut Julian Wolf. The Cabernet Sauvignon was matured in barrique. Weingut Sina Mertz indicates for its village and single-vineyard wines spontaneous fermentation and ageing on full lees up to bottling.
