The Gimmeldingen Riesling VDP.Ortswein is produced from grapes from two young vineyards in Gimmeldingen: the Kapellenberg and Biengarten sites, which are both classified as VDP.Erste Lage (First Site). Grapes that have ripened early are harvested first and used in the production of the VDP.Gutswein. The Cru Village harvest of the two site takes place after this early harvest, over the course of one or two rounds of harvesting. The later harvest allows the grapes destined for the Ortswein to ripen over a longer period of time. The cool autumn climate benefits the grapes by producing a more intense fruit, without adding a significant amount to the must weight or the alcohol content.
The neighbouring sites are situated on the hills surrounding Gimmeldingen. The earth here is formed from red sandstone grit combined with clay and limestone deposits, deposited over millennia from rocks eroded from the hillsides above, enriched with loess and clay. The other primary characteristic of the Gimmeldingen sites is the cold breeze which blows through the sites at night from the Gimmeldingen Valley in the Palatinate Forest.
The grapes used for the Cru Village Gimmeldingen Riesling are always at their optimal ripeness. The red sandstone gives the wine its delicate notes of peach and apricot, combined with a greater complexity which comes from the influence of the clay and limestone. The remarkable variation between day and night temperatures gives the wine not only the typical citrus fruit flavours but also a piquant acidity and minerality. The wine drinks very well when young but the wine has great aging potential and can be aged for many years, improving with each year and giving the wine’s flavor even greater expression.
The grapes are harvested by hand under strict criteria, producing average yields of 55hl/ha. The whole grapes are carefully transported to the pressing room, the “Kelterhaus”, where they are crushed. After a short period of maceration lasting only 2 to 3 hours, the grapes are slowly and carefully pressed. The must is left to settle and is then fermented over a number of weeks using yeast produced by our winery. Until it is ready to be bottled, the unfined and untreated wine is left to mature on the lees and fine lees in both stainless steel vats and large, traditional wooden barrels.