Rheinhessen [RINE-hehs-uhn]

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With nearly 65,000 acres of vineyards, this is the largest of Germany’s thirteen ANBAUGEBIETE (qualitywine regions). It’s in the center of the winegrowing regions located along the Rhine, with RHEINGAU to the north, PFALZ to the south, NAHE to the west, and HESSISCHE BERGSTRASSE to the east. Rheinhessen is divided into just three BEREICHE—BINGEN, NIERSTEIN, and Wonnegau—and twenty-four GROSSLAGEN. Despite the large number of vineyards, only a small percentage produce high-quality wines. Many of the vineyards in the fertile land away from the Rhine have large YIELDS and are major providers of vast quantities of LIEBFRAUMILCH. In fact, over 50 percent of Germany’s production of this simple, inexpensive wine come from Rheinhessen. The best wines come from the vineyards located closest to the Rhine, starting near Bingen in the north, east to Mainz, and then south to around Worms. In particular, the vineyards near Bingen and Ingelheim and the RHEINTERRASSE near Nierstein produce excellent wines. MÜLLER-THURGAU, which accounts for about 25 percent of Rheinhessen’s total planted acreage, is the most widely planted variety. It’s followed by SYLVANER and SCHEUREBE, as well as myriad others like BACCHUS, Faberebe (FABER), HUXELREBE, and KERNER.