Summary
Schloss Reinhartshausen in Erbach is one of the most history-laden addresses of the Rheingau – and one of the oldest wine estates in the world: viticulture here is documented from 1337. On around 80 hectares, roughly 80 percent of them Riesling, the estate makes wine from an extraordinary collection of sites: the Erbacher Schlossberg as a monopole in sole ownership, plus Marcobrunn, Siegelsberg, Hohenrain and, in Hattenheim, Nussbrunnen and Wisselbrunnen. One feature you will find nowhere else in Germany is the Mariannenaue – a Rhine island and nature reserve on which the estate farms around 24 hectares. Since 2013 the Lergenmüller wine family from the Palatinate has run the estate, and since 2021 it has worked certified organic.
History
The roots of the estate lie in the manor of the Knights of Erbach, attested as far back as the 12th century. For viticulture, the year 1337 is the anchor point – wine has been made on this spot without interruption ever since, which places Schloss Reinhartshausen in the small group of the oldest wine estates worldwide. The château you see today was built in 1801, when the then owner Clemens August von Westphalen had the old manor pulled down and a neoclassical building erected in its place.
The most formative figure in the estate's story arrived in 1855: the Dutch princess Marianne of Orange-Nassau. She turned Reinhartshausen into a cultural centre on the Rhine, assembled a significant art collection and in 1861 endowed the first Protestant church in the Rheingau. After her death in 1883 the property passed to her son Prince Albrecht of Prussia and stayed in Prussian family hands until 1987.
Several changes of ownership followed. In 1987 the entrepreneur Willi Leibbrand acquired the château and the estate and restored the complex through the early 1990s; the château became a hotel. Finally, in 2013, the Lergenmüller wine family from the Palatinate took over the estate – putting it back into growers' hands.
Location & Terroir
Erbach lies in the core of the Rheingau, that stretch where the Rhine turns west and the slopes are consequently south-facing. The Taunus hills at its back shield it from cold northerly winds, while the broad river in front stores warmth and reflects light back into the vines. Precisely this combination has made the Rheingau one of the world's finest Riesling landscapes for centuries.
The Erbach sites run up the gentle slope from the river. Close to the Rhine lie deep, often loamy and marly soils that yield powerful, generous Rieslings – the Marcobrunn is the classic example. Further up, towards Kiedrich, the soils turn stonier and the wines tauter and more mineral.
A terroir of its own is the Mariannenaue, the Rhine island off Erbach. Surrounded by water, it sees milder nights and fewer late frosts than the mainland; in autumn river mists encourage noble rot and with it high-quality sweet Prädikat wines. Because the island is a nature reserve, viticulture here grows up in an unusually natural setting.
Style & Philosophy
The estate's signature under the Lergenmüller family comes down to three things: patience, precision and restrained cellar technique. The aim is for each of the great sites to show its own profile rather than a house style laid over everything. The Rieslings are mostly made dry, complemented by off-dry Kabinett and Spätlese wines and nobly sweet Auslesen in good botrytis years.
Since 2021 the estate has been certified organic – a step that fits its island and nature-reserve holdings well. In parallel there is plenty of experimentation: with PIWI varieties (fungus-resistant crossings), with almost forgotten historic grapes and with sparkling wines right through to pét-nat. With Laurenz Lergenmüller as head cellar master, the next generation has arrived in the cellar, giving this tradition-rich house a noticeably fresh impetus.
Notable Sites & Wines
The heart of the estate is its collection of sites in Erbach and Hattenheim:
- Erbacher Schlossberg – monopole site in the estate's sole ownership
- Erbacher Marcobrunn – one of the most famous Riesling sites in Germany
- Erbacher Siegelsberg and Erbacher Hohenrain
- Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen and Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen
- Mariannenaue – around 24 hectares on the Rhine island, a micro-terroir in itself
The range runs from an easy-going estate Riesling through village wines to the single-site wines from these top parcels. Alongside them come Grauburgunder, Spätburgunder and a growing sparkling wine programme.
Awards
Schloss Reinhartshausen appears regularly in the leading German wine guides and tastings. At the Berliner Wein Trophy, Rieslings from the Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen as well as estate wines and reds from the house have been awarded gold medals, among others. More important than individual medals, though, is the reputation the sites themselves carry: Marcobrunn and Schlossberg have been among the names that founded the worldwide fame of Rheingau Riesling since the 19th century – and Schloss Reinhartshausen is the estate through which they remain accessible today.