page_title: Nahe (wine region)
section_title: Grapes and wine
hierarchical_section_title: Nahe (wine region) / Grapes and wine
caption_attribution_description: 2007 VDP Nahe-Ahr wine auction at Römerhalle, Bad Kreuznach, Germany with Hans-Jürgen Podzun as auctioneer
context_page_description: Nahe is a region for quality wine in Germany, along the River Nahe in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. On the region's 4,155 hectares of vineyards in 2008, white wine grapes dominate with 75% and Riesling is the most common variety with 27.2%. A characteristic of the Nahe region is that the soils are very varied owing to the region's volcanic origins.
  Although the region was populated already in Roman times, and the village of Monzingen was mentioned as a wine village as early as 778, the Nahe wine region was defined only with the 1971 German wine law. Before that, the wines were sold as plain "Rhine wine". In recent decades, several Nahe producers have made a name for themselves with Riesling wines that have been rated very highly by international wine critics, and have come to be seen as being on par with the best wines of Moselle and Rheingau wines.
context_section_description: The Nahe is a predominantly white wine region with Riesling being the most significant planting. Riesling's prominence is due in part to the reforms of the Flurbereinigung and the decline of Müller-Thurgau which was once the Nahe's most widely planted variety but now accounts for around 16% of plantings. In the 1960s, Silvaner occupied more than half of all vineyards on the Nahe but fell in favor to plantings of Müller-Thurgau and Riesling such that it now accounts for a little less than 10%. Plantings of Pinot blanc, Pinot gris and the red Pinot noir have been increasing. Overall, red grape varieties account for around 23% of the Nahe's vineyards with Dornfelder, Blauer Portugieser and Pinot noir being the most popular plantings. Other varieties found in the Nahe include Bacchus, Faberrebe and Kerner.
  For a large part of the Nahe's history, grapes from the region were blended with other German wine grapes and labeled as "Rhine wine". Today the majority of Nahe wine is consumed domestically with the nine member estates of the VDP having the largest export market of the region. Unlike other German wine regions, co-operatives have a smaller presence that pales in comparison to the influences of the large German supermarket chains that form a large sector of the Nahe wine market.
  The most cultivated grape varieties, by area in 2008, were:
  Riesling, 1,125 ha (27.1%)
  Müller-Thurgau, 552 ha (13.3%)
  Dornfelder, 456 ha (11.0%)
  Silvaner, 277 ha (6.7%)
  Pinot noir, 248 ha (6.0%)
  Pinot blanc, 224 ha (5.4%)
  Pinot gris, 214 ha (5.2%)
  Kerner, 194 ha (4.7%)
  Bacchus, 153 ha (3.7%)
  Scheurebe, 131 ha (3.2%)
  Blauer Portugieser, 112 ha (2.7%)
  Regent, 101 ha (2.4%)
  Chardonnay, 39 ha (0.9%)
  Faberrebe, 30 ha (0.7%)
  Gewürztraminer, 25 ha (0.6%)
  Dunkelfelder, 23 ha (0.6%)
  Huxelrebe, 20 ha (0.5%)
caption: VDP auction of Nahe and Ahr wines at Bad Kreuznach.
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