Höllenberg

Total area: 44 hectares
Weingut Künstler 0,4 hectares

Vineyard
The district of Assmannshausen is perhaps Germany’s most famous "island" of red wine, and a veritable ambassador for Rheingau reds in general. Almost 100% of the district's vineyards are planted with the celebrated diva of red wine grapes, 'blauer Spätburgunder,' more commonly known around the world as Pinot Noir. The "Höllenberg" name derives from the Middle High German word 'Halde', or 'steep hill.'

Wine
Home to rich, powerful and distinctive reds, the steep slopes of the Höllenberg produce wines with an unmistakable trace of almonds and cassis. Pinots from this site have been prized since at least 1470. Bismarck himself offered famous words of praise: "Our German sun in the Rheingau appears to shine more fiery than that of the Caucasus or Avignon; I for my part have never tasted any product nearly as delicious as the Höllenberg!"

Soil
The stones and soil here tell a "moving story." Plant and animal matter formed a dark, humus-rich topsoil over a layer of red/purple-hued slate added from other parts of the Höllenberg. Further down the yellow/brown soil of earlier vineyards begins. There are few large rocks here, as this earth underwent the 'Rigolen' process of double-digging and ploughing. A bed of stone then marks the start of the "living soil," a coarse, gritty layer of brown weathered clayey slate ranging from light to gray with a small share of quartzite. The vineyard soils are comprised almost exclusively of rocky earth with fine clay-laced granules of weathered slate and some loess.