Location and classification
La Roche refers to the single vineyard Uffhofener La Roche, also known as Flonheimer La Roche. It is located in the Uffhofen district of Flonheim in Rheinhessen. Under wine law, the site is assigned to the Bingen area and the large vineyard Adelberg; Uffhofen is registered as the village location.
Relief and soils
The vineyards include parcels that are oriented to the south and are steep. Geologically, La Roche is assigned to the formations of the Upper Rotliegend with calcareous clay, silt and sandstone. In some parcels, solid rock lies at about one metre depth.
The mapped soil type is Rotliegend/Rigosol. It is described as shallow to medium-depth, calcareous and stony clay loam with low available water retention, good heat uptake and medium root penetration.
Grape varieties and wine profile
In La Roche, Riesling and Pinot Noir are documented. The described terroir profile includes herbaceous, finely spiced and almost floral notes, mineral components and fruit aromas of peach, apricot and honeydew melon. Added to this are lively acidity, a multi-layered structure and potential for ripening.
One producer describes the La-Roche Riesling as structured and elegant with ripening potential, shaped by the steep, stony and mineral character of the site.
History and cultivation
The name of the wine-growing site is connected with the Huguenot family La Roche from Erbes-Büdesheim, who owned the land in earlier times. A Riesling planting of the Meyerhof in La Roche is more than 50 years old.
Espenhof documents, for a Riesling from old core parcels, strict selection and staggered hand harvests; for its site wines, yields of 15 to 30 hectolitres per hectare are given. The vineyard plots of the Meyerhof including La Roche were converted to organic cultivation from 2017; the conversion was completed with the 2020 vintage.
