With a wine-growing heritage spanning more than a millennium of history, Schloss Johannisberg has established itself as a benchmark of great German wines. The roots of the vineyard date back to the 9th century when Ludwig the Pious acquired the vines. Nearly three centuries later, a Benedictine monastery was erected on these same lands and the name of Johannisberg was born.
Subsequently, Germany entered a troubled historical period that undermined its economy and its politics, but paradoxically these difficulties allowed Schloss Johannisberg to spread its wings. In 1716, the construction of the palace known to all today begins at the very place where the ruins of the monastery rest. Like a phoenix of winegrowing, Schloss Johannisberg was reborn in an even more dazzling and prosperous form: all the land is planted with Riesling, making the estate the first clos vineyard to cultivate this grape variety.
If today Schloss Johannisberg is one of the best Riesling vineyards, it is because this estate is anchored in the heart of an extraordinary terroir. There, 50 hectares extend over the 50th parallel north, thus offering the vines a strong climatic duality between daytime heat and nighttime coolness. Facing due south, the land covers a quartz-influenced hillside at the foot of the Taunus Mountains. The slope is inclined at 45 degrees and culminates at an altitude of 182 metres, which allows the grapes to enjoy perfect sunshine.
But the grandeur of this exceptional estate truly lies in the sublime meeting of this great terroir with ancestral know-how and fine precision. Driven by a deep passion for the excellence of its wines and for the beauty of its vines, Schloss Johannisberg works at each stage of winemaking with the greatest attention to detail. Thus, the barrels where the wines age come from the estate's oak forest and an underground library houses these wines, which are among the most prestigious in the world.
