Viticulture: The 'Nahe-Wine Street'

"Among medicines, wine is the most useful, among foods, the most pleasant" (Plutarch)

Because of its varied soil, fruity, distinctive and elegant wines ripen on the slopes of the Nahe and have contributed to the region being called the "Nahe-Wine Street" (since 1971). It is also called the wine-tasting area of the German wine region. The steep slopes of the region are especially well suited to bringing out the fineness of the Riesling with its fruity acidity, mostly dry in nature, and of the highest quality. The Müller-Thurgau grape is less demanding of its location, is less acidic than the Riesling and has a slight aroma of nutmeg. The wines range from strong to powerful in the Lower Nahe area to rather light in the upper Nahe. The Sylvaner grape needs richer soil. When grown in the right locations, this sort makes very harmonious wines known and appreciated for their balance and endurance. Besides these "standard" grape sorts, one finds Kerner, Scheurebe, Bacchus, Faber, Ruländer, and white burgundy, as well as increasingly more red wine.

Many hundreds of substances determine the character of a wine. The almost unlimited possibilities of variation and combination make each wine unique. There are around 400 substances responsible for the taste and aroma of a wine. These are mostly higher types of alcohol and their esters, as well as aldehyde. The Residual sugar content determines the sweetness of the wine. A wine is called dry when 9 grams per liter is not exceeded, the term semi-dry is used for wines up to 18 grams per liter as long as it is acidic enough. The aroma, taste, and quality of a wine depends less upon the individual substances in the wine and more upon how they harmonize with each other. The various nuances of aroma and taste are described with special wine terminology: radiant, solid, robust, elegant, charming, and powerful are just a few examples.