Location and classification
The Kobersberg is the most important wine-growing area of Rimpar and lies on the northern side of the town. The vineyards are concentrated on an almost ideal slope facing south, with a gradient of about eight degrees. The area is classified as a winegrowing site as “Rimparer Kobersberg” in the Maindreieck area of the wine-growing region Franken.
Altitude, climate and soils
The Kobersberg is around 340 to 350 metres above sea level and rises above the incised Pleichach valley. For Rimpar, a long-term average annual rainfall of 613 millimetres is documented for the period 1961 to 1990; a mean temperature of 9.1 degrees Celsius is given for nearby Würzburg.
The slope is connected with shell limestone, in particular Upper Shell Limestone. Documented are shallow rooted brown rendzinas from marly-clayey material over shell limestone. Through agricultural erosion, a large part of the former brown earth, formed from loess, was eroded away; in the remaining loess loam, fragments of shell limestone are found.
Development of viticulture
For 2009, a vineyard area of 10.6 hectares is documented, which at that time accounted for the largest part of Rimpar’s wine-growing area. Today, cultivation is focused on upper slope areas, which became easier to access through the construction of vineyard paths in the course of land consolidation in the 1960s. In the process, the former vineyard walls and stone stacks disappeared, which had shared and terraced the narrow historical plots.
Historical maps show significantly more vineyard area for 1832 than today. Viticulture declined after the First World War due to changed sales markets, downy mildew, phylloxera and a shortage of labour. After the First World War, around 20 small winegrowers were associated with the Kobersberg; the cultivation area fell to 44 Morgen in 1921 and 16 Morgen in 1940.
Grape varieties and wines
At the Rimparer Kobersberg, Silvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Bacchus, Scheurebe, Portugieser, Dornfelder and Spätburgunder are documented. The wines include dry and semi-dry white wines, Kabinett and Spätlese, dry red wines, rosé, Rotling, as well as dry German sparkling wine. A documented cuvée from the Kobersberg matures for twelve months in wooden casks. In addition, organic viticulture is evidenced by the organic wines of the winemaker Franziska Schömig.
