Rüdesheim's South-Facing Quartzite Grosse Lage

Berg Roseneck

Berg Roseneck sits on the Rüdesheimer Berg in the far western Rheingau, below the Niederwald monument and wedged between the neighbouring sites of Berg Schlossberg and Drachenstein. The name comes from the Rosenhecken, the wild rose hedges that colonise its rocky outcrops. Viticulture here is documented from around 1200, and the VDP classifies the whole site as a VDP.GROSSE LAGE, its top rank for single vineyards.

Geography and microclimate

The vineyard faces due south and climbs from roughly 160 to 200 metres above sea level. Gradients are steep and vary widely across the parcel, reported from around 33 percent over the site as a whole up to about 50 percent in the western sector, which ranks among the steepest planted ground in Germany. The Taunus ridge shelters the slope from cold northerly wind, while the Rhine below moderates temperature and reflects light; the estates that farm here describe a mild microclimate that largely rules out late frost.

Geology and soils

The bedrock is dominated by Taunus quartzite and phyllite slate, hard, well-drained stone that warms quickly and holds heat into the evening. Georg Breuer characterises its parcels as phyllite with clay and quartz slate. These are not uniform soils. The western part is very stony, with medium-deep, extremely rocky ground over the quartzite, while the eastern part carries deep loess-loam. That split, stony quartzite in the west and loam in the east, is the defining feature of the site and a reason bottlings from different growers can read so differently.

Scale and layout

Estates report the full site at around 25 hectares, though individual holdings are far smaller; Wegeler, for example, farms 5.65 hectares here and describes the same heterogeneous profile. Small terraces that once structured the slope were removed around 1700, and a land consolidation programme between 1970 and 1985 added the paved access lanes that serve the vineyard today.

Wine character

Berg Roseneck is planted almost entirely to Riesling. The VDP describes its wines as fine and delicate, carrying racy acidity and ageing over the long term, a profile consistent with cool, well-drained quartzite and a high, wind-protected aspect. The flagship style is the dry Grosses Gewächs, though the site also yields nobly sweet Prädikat wines up to Trockenbeerenauslese.

Producers

Josef Leitz farms across the Rüdesheimer Berg and bottles a Berg Roseneck Grosses Gewächs, including a single-parcel cuvée labelled "Katerloch." Georg Breuer produces a dry Berg Roseneck Riesling from phyllite and quartz slate. Weingüter Wegeler works its 5.65-hectare holding on the south face. August Kesseler makes both a Grosses Gewächs and, in suitable years, a Trockenbeerenauslese from the site. Peter Jakob Kühn, Kloster Eberbach, and Fritz Allendorf each release a Berg Roseneck Grosses Gewächs, and Carl Ehrhard, a long-established Rüdesheim family estate, bottles the site among its Berg parcels.

This comprehensive guide is part of the WineSaint Wine Region Guide collection. Last updated: September 2026.

Wines from this Vineyard

7 wines1 producer20142023avg 8.1
Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling trocken20148.1
Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Katerloch Grosses Gewächs · Riesling20238.62022820218.320207.72016820148.3