The Prussian government established the domain and acquired the first parcels in the year 1902: steep, jagged and rocky terrain, including an old copper mine. The layout and development of the vineyards proved extraordinarily difficult – solid rock had to be blasted out of the way and colossal masses of earth must be moved. The first Riesling vines were planted in 1903.
In 2010, the former Staatsdomäne was rechristened Gut Hermannsberg. Thanks to comprehensive investments in care and maintenance of the vineyards as well as the modernisation of the cellar – not to mention a complete reorientation of the estate’s quality concept – Gut Hermannsberg now figures once more as one of Germany’s premier producers of Riesling.
The estate owns some 30 hectares of vineyard, all classified as VDP/GROSSE Lage; a unique and exceptional portfolio of sites with extraordinary potential, most of them arranged around the art nouveau manor house and its outbuildings. Steeply sloped vineyards such as the legendary Kupfergrube, the monopole Hermannsberg and the remarkably unique Traiser Bastei belong on any list of the best Riesling sites in Germany – and thus in the world. This potential manifests itself as well in an obligation for future years, to remain the source of distinctive and matchless wines – mineral-driven, substantial and precise – wines that could come from this estate alone.
