Nahe (wine region)

The Soonwald ranges to the northeast and rocky foothills to the east help retain heat and moderate the amount of rainfall that the region receives.

The Nahe flows parallel to the Moselle and lies 40 kilometers (25 mi) to the southeast of the Mosel wine region.

[3] The Nahe formally has only one overlapping district Bereich Nahetal that includes 7 Grosslagen (collective sites) and 328 Einzellagen (vineyards).

The region begins with the villages of Martinstein, Monzingen and follows the river to Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg where it meets the Alsenz.

The climate of the region gets progressively warmer downstream with low amounts of annual rainfall that is favorable for the production of late harvest wines.

[3] Wine villages of the Upper Nahe include-(moving downstream) The subregion of Bad Kreuznach includes the vineyards north of the town that are dominated with clay- and loess-based soils.

These families were instrumental in the years after World War II in sustaining the reputation of Nahe wine but the Bad Kreuznach region, as a whole, has seen a steady decline since the end of the 20th century with very few vineyards participating in the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP) organization.

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.

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.