Location and Classification
The Gleisweiler Hölle is an officially recorded single vineyard site in the Pfalz, in the area of Südliche Weinstraße and within the Großlage Bischofskreuz. It is located in the municipality and cadastral district of Gleisweiler, has the site number 810110 and comprises, according to the register of vineyard areas, 57.3 hectares of planted vine.
Exposition, Altitude and Soils
The site faces south, lies at an altitude of 280 to 315 metres and on average has a slope of three percent. Gleisweiler is situated on the eastern foothills of the Haardt below the Devil’s Mountain, which is around 600 metres high. The vineyards are oriented towards the south-east and are protected by the western hill ridges. The local climate is described as warm and mild, with foehn-like warming, an earlier spring and a longer growing season. As a soil designation, Kalkmerkel is listed.
The sub-area recorded as VDP.GROSSE LAGE Hölle–Unterer Faulenberg comprises 3.49 hectares. It has a south-east exposure, lies at an altitude of 255 to 275 metres and has a slope of 20 percent. Here, weathered red sandstone and pronounced deposits of limestone are documented; the soil structure supports the warming of the soil and the retention of water.
Grape Varieties and Wines
For a classified area of 46.00 hectares within Gleisweiler Hölle, Grauer Burgunder is listed as the grape variety. A documented parcel bottling is a dry Grauer Burgunder Kabinett. In the sub-area Hölle–Unterer Faulenberg, Riesling is listed as the classified grape variety; from it, Riesling Grosses Gewächs is documented.
History and Cultivation
After the abolition of numerous local Gewann names by the German Wine Act of 1971, Gleisweiler Hölle was selected as the name of the single vineyard site for the wines from the municipality. The name is derived from historical terms for a hillside or terrain location. Up to the 1930s, the vineyards were traditionally trained on the framework method; later they were converted to wire framework and are today fully developed through land consolidation for mechanised cultivation. A winery working there documents a reduction in yield from winter pruning and again before the harvest through the removal of excess or unhealthy grapes.
