Dessoy winery

Red pigments in the soil for top Rieslings

The people who gave the name to this single vineyard site chose something that takes some getting used to: in the case of the childhood disease scarlet fever, the tongue turns red. The single vineyard Scharlachberg consists of "Quarzit Rigosol", a strongly consolidated sandstone with a high iron oxide content. The iron discolours the soil orange-red or scarlet. The vineyard was first mentioned in a document in 1248 with the name "vocatur scarlachen". It extends above the Bingen district of Büdesheim. Rieslings with great ripening potential come from here.

• Rheinhessen-Blog

Quartzite lies between chapel and church

The Rochuskapelle (Rochus Chapel) towers above, the Kempten district of Bingen on the banks of the Rhine below. In between the picturesque "Binger Kirchberg" vineyard, first mentioned in 1726. It probably got its name from the view of Kempten's Dreikönigskirche (holy trinity church). Mainly Riesling grows here, but there is also some Pinot Noir found. The loam-loess soil has a high stone content and is very rich in lime and quartzite. The quartzite contains iron oxide, colouring parts of the soil red. The wines show a distinctive flinty minerality.

• To the other single vineyard sites of Bingen: Scharlachberg
• The Historical Museum on the River: Discover Hildegard von Bingen
• Info about Hildegard von Bingen in the Rheinhessen blog