Erbach's Wall-Sheltered Grosse Lage Above Marcobrunn

Hohenrain

Hohenrain is a VDP.GROSSE LAGE in Erbach, in the Mittelrheingau, confirmed as such in the VDP's own vineyard register. It sits above the old center of the village, on the slope that rises to the north of the celebrated Marcobrunn, and it belongs to the tight group of Erbach sites, with Marcobrunn and Siegelsberg, that carry the region's top classification. Its reputation rests less on steepness than on shelter and warmth.

Geography and mesoclimate

The site faces broadly south, with rows oriented anywhere from southeast to southwest, and it lies at roughly 80 to 120 metres above sea level. The gradient is gentle by Rheingau standards, running from about 5 up to 10 percent, a slighter incline than neighbouring Siegelsberg. What most defines the mesoclimate is a stone wall roughly three metres high along the western edge, which stores daytime heat and blocks cool winds, leaving the vineyard notably warm and sheltered. In total the site covers about 14 to 15 hectares.

Soils

The soils are predominantly deep loess and loess-loam, in places gravelly, mixed with heavy tertiary marl and loam. Several sources describe the same combination: deep-rooted loess loams over pockets of dense marl. This is a warmer, more water-retentive base than the slate-driven sites of other German regions, and it differs from Siegelsberg nearby, where the last traces of Rhine slate persist in the topsoil.

Wine character

Riesling dominates here, as across Erbach. The estates that bottle Hohenrain describe wines of a lighter, elegant cast, carried by a spicy, savoury acidity, that ripen relatively early yet hold well in the cellar. The warmth of the walled slope and the loess-marl base tend toward roundness and aromatic ripeness rather than the taut, saline drive of slate terroirs, while the marl lends structure and length. Most bottlings appear as dry Grosses Gewächs, though the site also yields Prädikat wines including Spätlese and, in suitable years, Beerenauslese.

Among the Erbach sites

Hohenrain lies directly above Marcobrunn, which occupies flatter ground nearer the Rhine at about 90 to 100 metres on tertiary marl and deep loess loam. It is more sheltered than Siegelsberg and planted on a lesser slope, which helps explain its early-flowering, early-ripening reputation. The three leading Erbach sites share the loess-marl signature of this stretch of the Mittelrheingau, separating mainly on exposure, incline and degree of shelter.

Producers

Several estates bottle the site. Weingut Jakob Jung, based in Erbach, farms Hohenrain among its Erbach holdings and makes a dry Riesling Grosses Gewächs from it. Weingut von Oetinger lists Hohenrain as a Grosse Lage and produces a Hohenrain GG. Weingut Baron Knyphausen counts Hohenrain among its Grosse Lagen, alongside Marcobrunn, Siegelsberg, Wisselbrunnen and Schlossberg. Schloss Reinhartshausen bottles Erbacher Hohenrain, including an Alte Reben dry Riesling and a Spätlese, and Weingut Crass offers a dry Erbacher Hohenrain. wein.plus places recent Grosses Gewächs from the site in the low 90s of its rating scale, its "excellent" band.

Name and history

The site is long documented. It appears in 1519 as "wingart des reyngen," then as "hohenreine" or "am hohen reine" in 1543, and as "Rhaingen" in 1643, the older spellings behind the modern name Hohenrain. Riesling has been grown across Erbach for centuries, placing Hohenrain among the well-established parcels of the Rheingau.

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