Lorch is a truly exceptional place: where the Rhine river is at its narrowest, the Taunus hills fall into the valley with a down-grade of up to 60 percent, forcing the river between breathtakingly steep slopes. The sunlight hits the richly mineral slate almost at a right angle – could there be a better place for Riesling to thrive? We don’t think so. After all, it has been right at home at winery Friedrich Altenkirch ever since it was founded in 1826.
The steep slopes of Lorch constitute one basis for the exceptional quality of Altenkirch wines: manual labor. Where not even the slate can hold fast to the hills, machines are bound to fail. Our wines are hand crafted products in the best sense of the word, or in other words: tailor-made uniques. Another factor lies in the earth, in the natural interaction between vines, slate and Rhine valley. This process is out of our control, and that’s a good thing: Our wines have all the prerequisites they need in order to become extraordinary. All we have to do is express their potential in a perfectly untouched way.
Number of vines: 85.000
Number of bottles: 100.000
Number of Altenkirch wines harvested by machines: 0
Down-grade of Altenkirch’s steepest vineyard in per cent: 60
