SPIESS WINE MAKER - Haus Eichrodt

Once clay for potters, today premium wines for connoisseurs

Once again the Middle High German: "Ule" means pot. The site was first mentioned in a document in 1382 with the name "an Ule erden". Why pot? Because potters found clay there. Today, the clay marl should stay where it is. And that is below the vines! Just as well as loess and limestone. Top Rieslings grow here: ripe aromas and fine exoticism on the nose; creamy and opulent on the palate. Due to the southern exposure, the grapes ripen early. Hikers enjoy the multitude of vineyard houses.

> From Wingertshäuschen to Wingertshäuschen: https://www.rheinhessen.de/wingertsheisje-wanderweg
> In 1834, winegrowing pioneer J.P. Bronner described the Aulerde and the Kirchspiel as the best vineyards in Westhofen. https://www.vdp.de/de/die-weine/weinbergonline/lage/8079-kirchspiel#map-inline-target
> Rheinhessen blog: https://blog.rheinhessen.de/wanderbericht-westhofener-wingertsheisjerweg-rebenmeer-kommandozentrale-und-ein-liebesnest/
> To the other single vineyard sites of Westhofen: Brunnenhäuschen, Kirchspiel, Morstein and Steingrube 

Glorious wines play on the tongue here!

No, for once this does not refer to the church (German: Kirche), which was often in possession of valuable land. The name has no religious reference, but means "hill covered with cherry trees". It was mentioned in a deed of donation in 1348 under the name "ab den Jierßbuhel". But it is not the cherry trees that catch the hiker's eye along the path today - but the cypresses. The slopes, which are up to 30 percent steep, are home to excellent wines that are internationally known. Limestone dominates the subsoil. But what does the word “Spiel” (English: play) refer to? Can cherry trees play? Do the leaves play in the wind maybe? Either way, wines from the Kirchspiel definitely play with the tongue in a good way.

> In the middle of the single vineyard: the Julius Tower. Info: https://www.wonnegau.de/sehenswuerdigkeiten-am-weg/a-juliusturm 
> From Wingertshäuschen to Wingertshäuschen: https://www.rheinhessen.de/wingertsheisje-wanderweg
> Rheinhessen blog: https://blog.rheinhessen.de/wanderbericht-westhofener-wingertsheisjerweg-rebenmeer-kommandozentrale-und-ein-liebesnest/ 
> To the other single vineyard sites of Westhofen: Aulerde, Brunnenhäuschen, Morstein and Steingrube 

Whether wild rose or rose garden – today it is a vineyard

Such a simple term, yet so many possible interpretations! It could refer to natural growth of wild roses. Those often grow in Rheinhessen and their rose hips shine in autumn. It could also have been early medieval burial grounds, a very vague interpretation. In Bechtheim, people say that the then sovereign and local lord, the Count of Leiningen, maintained a "Roßgarten” (Engl.: horse garden") there. It belonged to the farmstead in the centre of the village. The vineyard was first mentioned in documents around 1500 with the name "ym roß garten". The predominant soil types here are loess loam and limestone. The wines are rich in fruit aromas, concentrated and long-lasting on the palate.

> Discover the other sites in Bechtheim: Geyersberg, Hasensprung, Stein
> Various hiking trails run through Bechtheim and its vineyards: Rheinterrassenweg, Lutherweg, Pilgerweg Ortsschleife Bechtheim and the village's own wine trail with old agricultural equipment.