Bodenheim's VDP.GROSSE LAGE Planted to Spätburgunder

Burgweg

The Burgweg above Bodenheim, in the Nierstein district of Rheinhessen, is confirmed on VDP.de as a VDP.GROSSE LAGE, the top rung of the association's vineyard classification. Your classification is correct. It is the home site of Weingut Kühling-Gillot, and within the section that carries the classification the estate plants it exclusively to Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir), a decision driven by the soil rather than by fashion.

Site and exposure

Burgweg is a gentle slope rather than a steep river face. The registered Einzellage covers roughly 40 to 42 hectares, sitting at about 90 to 140 metres of elevation, with gradients running from around 10 up to 25 percent. The rows face broadly east to southeast, catching morning light. The classified VDP.GROSSE LAGE is a selected parcel inside that larger Einzellage; the wider registered site also carries Riesling, Silvaner and Scheurebe, but it is the Spätburgunder plot that holds the Grosse Lage designation.

Soil and geology

The ground is ice-age loess over sandy to clayey loam, classed as a loess Pararendzina: deep, well aerated, nutrient-rich and distinctly calcareous. Kühling-Gillot describe their parcel as sandy marl and limestone with a high lime content and a sandy upper layer that, in their own phrase, gives the vines warm feet. That pairing of warm sand lightening a cool, lime-rich base is why the estate reserves the site for Pinot Noir, a variety that answers to limestone and to soils that drain and heat readily.

The wine and the estate

Weingut Kühling-Gillot has been in family hands for more than two centuries and farms from Bodenheim under Carolin Gillot (née Kühling) and Oliver Spanier. The estate is a VDP member, is certified organic, and has worked biodynamically across all its vineyards since 2005. Burgweg counts as one of five VDP.GROSSE LAGE sites the estate farms, and its reds are matured for roughly 24 months in Burgundy barrels before bottling. The Spätburgunder here is a dry red shaped by the site's calcareous, sand-lightened ground rather than by heavy extraction.

History and the name

The vineyard was first documented in 1364 as "Uf dem Burgwege." Local records suggest the "Burg" may be a scribe's substitution of a u for an e in "Bergwege," a hill path, meaning the modern name could rest on a medieval spelling slip. Either way, the ground has carried vines for centuries.

One name, several vineyards

Burgweg is a common German vineyard name, and this Bodenheim Grosse Lage should not be confused with its namesakes. The Rüdesheimer Burgweg in the Rheingau and the Burgweg around Schlossböckelheim in the Nahe are both Grosslagen, collective sites covering many vineyards, while Großkarlbach and Kindenheim in the Pfalz each hold a Burgweg of their own. The Rheinhessen Burgweg described here is the single Bodenheim site classified by the VDP.

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