Location and Climate
Neugesetz is located in the Offenburg district of Zell-Weierbach in the Baden winegrowing region. The vineyard lies in a small valley opened out towards the Upper Rhine plain. The adjacent mountains and the opening to the south-west create a sheltered local climate; the steep slopes receive high levels of sunshine.
Soil and Classification
The site, facing west to south-west, is situated at around 280 to 320 metres above sea level and has hillside gradients of 10 to 60 percent. The soil is characterised by granite, or weathered granite. As VDP.GROSSE LAGE® Neugesetz includes a classified area of 3.73 hectares and, according to the winery, is in its sole ownership.
History and Grape Varieties
The winery describes Neugesetz as its oldest vineyard. In this account, the first vines were planted there in 1517; the name refers to vines that were newly planted. Riesling and Spätburgunder are classified as the grape varieties. In addition, Roter Traminer is documented in wines that are assigned to Zell-Weierbacher Neugesetz.
Wines and Maturation
Dried (dry) Rieslings and Spätburgunder of the VDP.GROSSE LAGE® category are documented. A Riesling Beerenauslese is indicated as a sweet VDP.GROSSE LAGE wine with naturally retained residual sugar. For a Riesling, gentle processing, maceration time on the skins, pressing, cool controlled fermentation in stainless steel and wood, spontaneous fermentation, and subsequent fine lees ageing are described. For the documented Spätburgunder, hand harvest, 100 percent must fermentation, two weeks of contact with the skins, malolactic fermentation, fine lees ageing and, in part, maturation in used barriques are carried out.
