Rheinhessen, Pfalz &amp; Mittelrhein:
A Game of Patience

BY
ANNE KREBIEHL MW | SEPTEMBER 11, 2025

Two
thousand twenty-four was a challenging year for the winemakers of the Mittelrhein,
Rheinhessen and Pfalz. Some were hit by frost, and all had to contend with rain
and moisture in spring and summer. A hot and dry August helped balance things
out, but producers had to practise patience when it came to Riesling. For once,
sugar ripeness did not race ahead of phenolic ripeness and aromatic
development. Topography, exposure and soil type made a big difference. April
frosts hit the cooler northwest corner of Rheinhessen, select lateral valleys
of the Mittelrhein and exposed sites in the southern Pfalz. However, certain spots
like Rheinhessen’s Red Slope or the Mittelrhein’s Bopparder Hamm—both
prominent, warm, stony and steep slopes facing the river Rhine—were clear
winners, yielding wines of immense brilliance and wonderful extract. Across
these three regions, alcohol levels remained moderate. This is positive, as few
other countries can pack so much flavour into such lean wines.

Weather Data

The
winegrowing regions of Rheinhessen (Germany’s largest), Pfalz and Mittelrhein (Germany’s
smallest) are all within the federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz. In its records
for Rheinland-Pfalz, the German Weather Service noted initial mildness in April
and described the late April spring frosts as a “blow” for nature. May
continued with “exceptionally high rainfall” that reached up to 250 liters (equivalent
to 250 millimeters) in the Haardt Mountains of the Pfalz. June saw daytime
highs of just 15°C and summer heat of 30°C, accompanied by
torrential downpours. July was warm but still brought much rain. August saw some
heat spikes, to which I can personally attest; for last year’s report, I
arrived in Ingelheim, Rheinhessen in mid-August, and the mercury still read 35°C in the evening—just
below the 50th degree of latitude! The first half of September remained
summery, but temperatures rarely exceeded 15°C in the second half. More
rain followed in October.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1757530716082-Rheinhessen+Cover.jpg">A view of the mighty Rhine from a vantage point on the Roter Hang, looking along the Rothenberg vineyard and further down to Pettenthal. 

Mittelrhein: Distance Made all the Difference

In
the Mittelrhein, it all depended on where you were. The closer to the Rhine,
the better. The exposed, steep slate curve of the Bopparder Hamm had no frost,
sufficient water throughout the growing season, and its well-drained soils never
became waterlogged. Johannes Müller noted the more gradual and even ripening of
2024 on this prominent site. He picked his last grapes here on October 15. after
several passes through the vineyard. Müller’s colleagues in the lateral valleys
were less lucky. Jochen Ratzenberger, who has sites in two lateral valleys, lost
50% of his fruit in the Steeg valley to frost. Likewise, frost took the fruit from
four hectares of Cecilia Jost’s vineyards in lateral valleys. However, all the
wines of the Mittelrhein, no matter how distant from the warming influence of
the Rhine, display exquisite freshness and beautiful definition in 2024.

Rheinhessen: Contrasting Pictures of an Intense Year

With
27,499 hectares of Germany’s total 103,687 hectares under vine, Rheinhessen is
Germany’s largest wine region. Accordingly, it is rather diverse in its soils
and climates. In the north-western corner, both climate and volcanic soils are
closer in aspect to the Nahe region than to the rest of Rheinhessen, and thus
frost decimated much of Wagner-Stempel’s fruit in Siefersheim and its surrounds.
Daniel Wagner said, “If it had not been for the hot August, it would have been
like the 1980s,” that decade having been notorious for underripe vintages. 

In
the cooler Selztal in Rheinessen’s northern interior, it all depended upon
where rain fell and whether the Teritiary limestone soils were waterlogged—so the
estates of Knewitz, Thörle and Braunewell all fared rather differently. Tobias
Knewitz described 2024 as “a marathon run with highs and lows where, in the
end, the highs outweighed the lows.” After budburst in April, frost hit only minimally,
costing Knewitz around 10% of his yield. Flowering was scattered, followed by a
temperature drop, leading to various stages of fruit development on the same
vine. Mildew pressure was a challenge for his organic practices. “However, the
hot August was a game-changer,” Knewitz said. 

Over
in Essenheim, Stefan Braunewell explained, “We made a lot of wine, but only
little of the good stuff.” This was down to constant rain and waterlogged soils
that made vineyard access difficult. Here, even the warm August did not significantly
turn things around.

The
Thörles were luckier. “Two thousand twenty-four was an extremely challenging
year for organic farming, but the hot August rescued the vintage. The weather
only turned cold in September,” Christoph Thörle said. Riesling harvest did not
commence until October 7, as the Thörles had waited for ripeness.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1757531797414-Johannes+Hasselbach+of+Weingut+Gunderloch+in+Nackenheim+showing+off+his+Rieslings+from+the+Roter+Hang_Vinous.jpg">Johannes Hasselbach of Weingut Gunderloch in Nackenheim showing off his Rieslings from the Roter Hang. Up
in Bingen and Ingelheim, both towns on the river Rhine, frost did no damage.
Erik Riffel in Bingen described the 2024 summer as “cooler, with more rain than
2023 and 2022,” which made for more even ripening. “It was the kind of vintage
you want to have,” Riffel said about the way the year evolved on the well-drained
quartzite slope of the Rochusberg, where his most important sites are located. In
Ingelheim, Simone Adams noted that there was a temptation to compare 2024 to
the wet year of 2021, but she noted that the dry phases of 2024 were distinctly
warmer than in 2021 and that the rainy days were fewer but brought more rain. “The
distribution of the rain was not bad at all in 2024,” she said. “There never
was any dry stress [in her soils of Tertiary limestone], and if you were on top
of canopy management, you were fine.”

As
I noted above, the Red Slope—the prominent Permian sandstone escarpment along
the Rhine from Nierstein to Nackenheim—was another winner of 2024. Johannes
Hasselbach took the 2024 rain during the season as a blessing. “We had rain, a
lot of rain, and thus disease pressure, but that was all,” he said. “What we
saw in the vineyards was a real vitality of the soils, since we had not seen
such lushness in years. We had no frost, no hail, good yields, so for us, 2024
was a lot of work, but the vineyards paid us back.” Christine Huff agreed that
the year was “intense,” but she conceded, “Towards the harvest, things got more
relaxed. We had cool nights, the grapes stayed stable, and we had no botrytis
pressure.” Both estates turned out beautifully taut and brilliant wines.

Further
south in the hilly interior of the Wonnegau, on deep Tertiary limestone, Fritz
Groebe observed, “Two thousand twenty-four had relatively normal development.
We had sufficient water and many cooler nights in summer, with only a few of
the tropical nights that remain above 20°C. In sum, we had a long
ripening period and sufficient water.” Rains in September gave a little push
for ripening after a very hot August, but Groebe also said, “Riesling was
interesting. Despite dryness and sunshine, there was no further progress in the
must weights. We made several passes in the vineyard, wondering whether we
would reach enough concentration.” His neighbor, Philipp Wittmann, echoed this
experience and called 2024 “a classically Nordic ripening of fruit.” Wittmann said,
“August and September were really good, a wonderful late summer.” Wittmann’s
team went through the Riesling sites and made pre-harvests to help concentrate
the remaining fruit. The Riesling harvest did not start until late September
and lasted well into October. “You needed patience to wait as long as
possible,” Wittman added. Felix Keller noted, “Riesling did not get going until
October.” The Wonnegau Rieslings are exquisitely pure and taut, almost like
tonics. They will shine in the future.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1757530991454-Bella+Rutayungwa+and+Felix+Keller+presented+the+stunning+Keller+collection+this+year%2C+Bella+called+2024+a+Geduldspiel%2C+or+a+game+of+patience_Vinous.jpg">Bella Rutayungwa and Felix Keller presented the stunning Keller collection this year. Bella called 2024 a Geduldspiel, or a game of patience. Pfalz: Local Luck

The
Pfalz is Germany’s second-largest wine region. Vineyards run in a narrow band
along the foothills of the Haardt mountains and rarely stretch onto the Rhine
plain. Whether gaps in these mountains allow for cooler air streams and frost, and
whether rain clouds get stuck there, has a significant local impact on growing
conditions. &nbsp;

The
northern Pfalz fared similarly to Rheinhessen’s Wonnegau. There was no frost
damage, and the gradual, slow ripening made for beautifully tense and pure
Rieslings that are relatively slender for the Pfalz. These wines have tension
and brilliance. The Pinot Noirs are also notable.

The
Mittelhaardt, the traditional heartland of the Pfalz, was a mixed picture, but
that was also due to factors beyond mere weather. This central stretch of the
region escaped frost but had some rain during harvest. Monika Schmid at
Reichsrat von Buhl summed it up elegantly, saying that 2024 brought “a lot of
rain, not
always at the right time,” including during harvest. While this meant stringent
sorting, she said, “It was good not to have another year of heat.” Steffen
Christmann, just a little further south in Gimmeldingen, noted that 2024 was “the
first time ever that we went out spraying at night, because the time windows
where you could actually spray were so brief. The rain stopped in mid-August,
and we could harvest in dry weather.” This illustrates how localized rain showers
were during harvest. Again, the 2024 Pfalz Rieslings come with extra verve and
wonderfully intense freshness.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1757531153891-What+a+way+to+start+the+day+the+glorious+2024s+of+Dr.+B%C3%BCrklin-Wolf+in+Wachenheim_Vinous.jpg">The glorious 2024s of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf in Wachenheim. What a way to start the day! Two
of the three great Deidesheim estates—visitor magnets for the region with their
cellar doors and restaurants in the heart of picturesque Deidesheim—did not
quite live up to the quality potential of their sites in 2024. I was
disappointed with the relative mediocrity of the wines at Bassermann-Jordan and
von Winning. Staff and management changes at the former and generous yields at
the latter can be blamed for this. It is a pity that these estates with their
substantial holdings are wasting what could be a lighthouse effect for the Mittelhaardt.
On the bright side, the third major Deidesheim estate, Reichsrat von Buhl,
seems to be back on track with Winemaker Simone Frigerio having hit his groove.
However, Bürklin-Wolf in Wachenheim remains a shining beacon led
by the vision and brilliance of Winemaker Nicola Libelli.

Further
south, in the more scattered villages of the Südpfalz, Riesling no longer
reigns supreme, and Weissburgunder, Chardonnay and Spätburgunder play a bigger
role. Here, winemakers spoke of two vintages: one for the Pinots and one for
the Rieslings. Some sites sustained frost damage, but all the producers I spoke
with noted how exhausting the wet spring and summer were, and how intense the disease
pressure was. August, with hot and dry weather, came as a relief. Franz
Wehrheim in Birkweiler described how the Pinot varieties and Chardonnay totally
rallied and ripened. They were picked in great sanitary conditions in dry
weather, and the resulting wines are immensely expressive. Riesling, however,
demanded patience. “Even in October, we still went out to cut off fruit to give
the remaining bunches that last touch of ripeness,” Wehrheim recalled. In the
neighboring village of Siebeldingen, Valentin Rebholz said, “We had to fight
for Riesling.”&nbsp; These conditions led to moderate
alcohol levels throughout, but beautiful expression and brilliance.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1757531295803-Newly+formed+Riesling+berries+on+the+Red+Slope+in+late+June_Vinous.jpg">Newly formed Riesling berries on the Red Slope in late June.The Verdict on Riesling &amp; Co.

Lovers
of classic, cool, highly expressive Rieslings are in for a treat in 2024. The
wines are distinctly fresh, svelte and bright, with excellent extract and
bright acidity. The best also display immense brilliance. All are beautifully
balanced, afforded by the slower ripening and longer vegetative season. Where 2023
Rieslings were pictures of real juiciness, the 2024s are more taut and slender
but bring no less joy. The Pinot Noirs are coming on by leaps and bounds. The
2022 vintage was a turning point, as the fruit was so healthy that great
quality was widespread. The 2023 growing season once again divided the wheat
from the chaff, but Germany’s ever more numerous Pinot Noir specialists delivered
immensely elegant wines in a variety of styles. Seek them out.

Chardonnay
plays an increasingly important role, as many see it as either more expressive
or reflective of soil than its nearest counterpart, Pinot Blanc. Others feel
that Chardonnay is more understood in the wine world than Pinot Blanc. By 2023
(the latest figures available), there were 1,087 hectares of Chardonnay in
Rheinhessen and 969 hectares in the Pfalz. Back in 1995, there were just 271
hectares of Chardonnay in all of Germany. The fact that so many of the quality
estates I visit make Chardonnay shows where the conversation is in Germany. The
question is, of course, what Germany can add to the world of Chardonnay. The
Germans mostly plant Chardonnay on calcareous soils and on their various
limestone formations. The best wines from Pfalz and Rheinhessen, regardless of
style, come with bright freshness and a real backbone of acidity—this is what German
Chardonnay can add to an already crowded field, especially if the focus is on
longevity and soil rather than fruit. Some of these wines are world-class. 

I
tasted the wines for this report during estate visits in late July 2025.© 2025, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.<hr> You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/rheingau-and-nahe-2024-rain-frost-and-unexpected-brilliance-sep-2025">Rheingau and Nahe 2024: Rain, Frost and Unexpected Brilliance</a>, Anne Krebiehl, MW, September 2025<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/rheinhessen-rheingau-riesling-triumphs-after-rain-oct-2024">Rheinhessen &amp; Rheingau: Riesling Triumphs After Rain</a>, Anne Krebiehl, MW, October 2024<img alt=""><a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/nahe-pfalz-mittelrhein-of-wheat-chaff-and-thrill-aug-2024">Nahe, Pfalz &amp; Mittelrhein–Of Wheat, Chaff and Thrill</a>, Anne Krebiehl, MW, September 2024<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2022-rheingau-pfalz-and-mittelrhein-before-during-and-after-the-rain-dec-2023">2022 Rheingau, Pfalz and Mittelrhein: Before, During and After the Rain</a>, Anne Krebiehl, MW, December 2023<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2022-rheinhessen-nahe-rain-in-the-nick-of-time-sep-2023">2022 Rheinhessen &amp; Nahe: Rain in the Nick of Time</a>, Anne Krebiehl, MW, September 2023

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