Berg Rottland Magnum 2019

Berg Rottland is a vineyard site in Rüdesheim in the wine-growing region Rheingau. It is located on the Rüdesheim hill near the western edge of the town and immediately behind the historic town centre. The VDP classifies Berg Rottland as VDP.GROSSE LAGE® with a classified area of 17.87 hectares.

The vineyard site, fully oriented to the south, lies at about 100 to 150 metres above sea level. Its slope gradient is around 15 to 50 percent. The vineyards are interspersed with heat-storing walls. Stony, skeletal soils with a high proportion of grey slate, as well as locally quartzite and gravel, are in some places covered by a thin layer of loess. Georg Breuer describes the subsoil as grey-blue clay slate with a humus-rich topsoil, loess and weathered slate chippings.

The Rhine provides a comparatively warm microclimate and supports early ripening of the grapes. Fog banks from the Rhine valley can promote the development of noble rot. The stony subsoil drains strongly and stores only little water, which means the site can tend towards drying out. The classified grape varieties listed are Riesling and Spätburgunder. On a small terrace, Georg Breuer planted Weißen Heunisch in summer 2004; since 2008 it has been vinified separately in small annual yields.

The dry Berg Rottland Riesling produced by Georg Breuer is described as mineral, with firm acidity and a long mineral finish. It matures for eleven months in used barrels with capacities of 1,200 and 600 litres and has development potential over many years. The name Rottland goes back to medieval terms for clearing or bringing land into cultivation and is linked to a gift of fallow land to Rüdesheim winegrowers between 1031 and 1051.

The Georg Breuer winery manages a total of 40 hectares of vineyard land in Rüdesheim, Rauenthal and Lorch in the Rheingau. Of this, 25.5 hectares are in Rüdesheim, 6.5 hectares in Rauenthal and 8 hectares in Lorch; 65 percent of the vineyards are in steep slopes.

The vineyards are planted to Riesling for 86 percent; the rest includes 10 percent Pinot Noir, 3 percent Pinot Gris and, together, 1 percent Pinot Blanc, Orléans and Heunisch. The Pfaffenwies in Lorch faces south-west, has a slope of up to 45 percent and lies at around 90 to 160 metres above sea level. Its soils consist of stony Hunsrück slate and Taunus quartzite, supplemented in the lower areas with loess. The Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg is characterised by slate and quartzite, while the Nonnenberg in Rauenthal is dominated by deep phyllite soils with gravel layers.

The winery produces dry wines from the Rheingau vineyards. The site- and vineyard-specific wines are described as complex and suitable for ageing. Rieslings from the Pfaffenwies are distinguished by pronounced minerality and acidity, while the wines from the Nonnenberg are characterised by power. Orléans has been grown on the slopes of the Rüdesheim Berg Schlossberg since 2000 and is matured in small wooden casks. The Georg Breuer Brut made from Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir, produced since 1987, matures for eleven years on fine lees in the bottle before being disgorged.

Bernhard Scholl and Albert Hillebrand founded the winery in 1880 as part of a wine trading business. Since the beginning of the 20th century, it has been owned by the Breuer family. Georg Breuer expanded the business and wine exports; later, his sons Heinrich and Bernhard increased the amount of vineyard land. After Bernhard Breuer’s death in May 2004, Theresa Breuer took over the management and runs the winery today with the support of long-standing employees. The vineyards are farmed according to nature-oriented guidelines. According to its own information, the winery does without herbicides and pesticides, relies on adapted tillage and covers the plots with legumes. It is a founding member of FAIR’N GREEN and takes part in the biodiversity project AmBiTo.