Röttgen

Röttgen

Mocha whirs about the fruit market

Dancing in the richness of choral song

Name

Roden. It means “to clear”, and even in German, it's an old word. The French root means “to bring to an end,” the Danish variant means “chaos.” It involves a turning of the soil, including digging up and burning the roots (until they are red hot). “Roth” is a variant of “Roden” that appears in many German place names, often in its diminutive form “Röttgen.” 

Our Celtic and Franconian forebears had actually given up on what is now Röttgen. The hillsides were simply too steep to cultivate a vineyard. It wasn’t until the Prussian military and its explosives arrived in the 1820s that terraces could be formed on the steep hills. The volume of black powder shot off here is why it’s just a “Röttgen”, or “little clearing”... they certainly had a sense of humor!

Facts

Geological definition: Devonian, Rittersturz hillside layers. Blue slate, whose iron content oxidizes so quickly upon contact with the air that the surface gives the primary impression of a yellow-brown coloration. In some especially exposed places, the heat of the sun even cooks the petroleum (which started as plankton) right out of the slate, which then lays like a blue shimmer across the hillside. 

We cultivate four parcels here, totaling 2.1 ha. Orientation: Southeast, elevation 80 - 180 m, slope 100 to 170%, average age of vines: over 60 years, with a significant portion ungrafted. Classification: VDP.GROSSE LAGE.  

The wine is exclusively vinified with wild yeasts in wooden barrels and absolutely no addition of enzymes or fining agents, and ages at least until summer of the year following harvest on the lees. Röttgen wines are produced dry and bear the designation of VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS. In notable years this is also the cradle to high-quality residually sweet Auslesen, Beerenauslesen and Trockenbeerenauslesen.

Reviews

"Accents of musk, earth, and aromas of sun-kissed peach. Earthy vapors mingle with citrus-laced bolts of acidity to create a pulsing circuit across the palate that will leave Riesling nerds gasping for air after only the first sip. Heartbreaking." FAS ▄ "Smoky, fruit, linseed oil. Smoky flintstone. Brilliant strength. Waterfall of aromas, elegant bitter accents. Saline finish. A Grand Canyon on the palate." FAZ ▄ "Expressive, without immense depth rather than width. Lush, without overreaching. Soft with a rigid core. Copious yellow fruits dressed with thin layers of nougat and coffee. Rubinesque, with full affectation, yet exceptionally soft with enormous minerality and length. A fruit basket that runneth over with juice. Across stone crevices and smooth slate... ” P.Vech ▄ “The famous vineyard site rises immediately from the plane of the water, climbing steeply as abrupt terraces on powerful cliffside blocks up to these important heights, giving any passing hiker the unfathomable sense that these individual sections, scattered between the cliffs and often appearing not contiguous in any way, must somehow have been built, since they appear to bear no connection to one another at all and could surely only reflect craftsmanship conquering the hurdles of nature. ” Johann P. Bronner, 1834

Uhlen Blaufüsser Lay

Crystal glasses quietly vibrate

Wine> Röttgen

Röttgen

Mocha whirs about the fruit market

Dancing in the richness of choral song


Name

Roden. It means “to clear”, and even in German, it's an old word. The French root means “to bring to an end,” the Danish variant means “chaos.” It involves a turning of the soil, including digging up and burning the roots (until they are red hot). “Roth” is a variant of “Roden” that appears in many German place names, often in its diminutive form “Röttgen.” 

Our Celtic and Franconian forebears had actually given up on what is now Röttgen. The hillsides were simply too steep to cultivate a vineyard. It wasn’t until the Prussian military and its explosives arrived in the 1820s that terraces could be formed on the steep hills. The volume of black powder shot off here is why it’s just a “Röttgen”, or “little clearing”... they certainly had a sense of humor!

Facts

Geological definition: Devonian, Rittersturz hillside layers. Blue slate, whose iron content oxidizes so quickly upon contact with the air that the surface gives the primary impression of a yellow-brown coloration. In some especially exposed places, the heat of the sun even cooks the petroleum (which started as plankton) right out of the slate, which then lays like a blue shimmer across the hillside. 

We cultivate four parcels here, totaling 2.1 ha. Orientation: Southeast, elevation 80 - 180 m, slope 100 to 170%, average age of vines: over 60 years, with a significant portion ungrafted. Classification: VDP.GROSSE LAGE.  

The wine is exclusively vinified with wild yeasts in wooden barrels and absolutely no addition of enzymes or fining agents, and ages at least until summer of the year following harvest on the lees. Röttgen wines are produced dry and bear the designation of VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS. In notable years this is also the cradle to high-quality residually sweet Auslesen, Beerenauslesen and Trockenbeerenauslesen.

Reviews

"Accents of musk, earth, and aromas of sun-kissed peach. Earthy vapors mingle with citrus-laced bolts of acidity to create a pulsing circuit across the palate that will leave Riesling nerds gasping for air after only the first sip. Heartbreaking." FAS ▄ "Smoky, fruit, linseed oil. Smoky flintstone. Brilliant strength. Waterfall of aromas, elegant bitter accents. Saline finish. A Grand Canyon on the palate." FAZ ▄ "Expressive, without immense depth rather than width. Lush, without overreaching. Soft with a rigid core. Copious yellow fruits dressed with thin layers of nougat and coffee. Rubinesque, with full affectation, yet exceptionally soft with enormous minerality and length. A fruit basket that runneth over with juice. Across stone crevices and smooth slate... ” P.Vech ▄ “The famous vineyard site rises immediately from the plane of the water, climbing steeply as abrupt terraces on powerful cliffside blocks up to these important heights, giving any passing hiker the unfathomable sense that these individual sections, scattered between the cliffs and often appearing not contiguous in any way, must somehow have been built, since they appear to bear no connection to one another at all and could surely only reflect craftsmanship conquering the hurdles of nature. ” Johann P. Bronner, 1834

Terrace viticulture

Anachronism or avant-garde

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