Heyl zu Herrnsheim Baron

Baron Heyl zu Herrnsheim – The time-honoured legacy of the Roter Hang

Where the Rhine traces its grandest bend and the soils of the Roter Hang in Nierstein glow with deep reds and violets, lies a vineyard, whose history is as old as the stone chronicle of its cellars. Baron Heyl zu Herrnsheim – a name that evokes nobility and centuries of history, a name associated with an estate whose roots stretch back to the year 1561, when monks from Worms, in search of the finest vineyards in Rheinhessen, acquired these vineyards .

Long based at the historic Mathildenhof, the estate changed hands several times over the centuries until it was acquired in 1909 by the von Heyl family and henceforth known as ‘Baron Heyl zu Herrnsheim’ . The decisive turning point came in 1969, when Peter von Weymarn, the husband of the Heyl heiress, took over the estate. He was one of the first producers in Germany to introduce his own vineyard classification and, from the 1980s onwards, converted the vineyards entirely to certified organic cultivation – a pioneer who catapulted the wines from the Roter Hang to the very top of the world .

The estate’s vineyards span 10.2 hectares on the steepest slopes of the Roter Hang. At the heart of the estate lies the monopole site Niersteiner Brudersberg – at just 1.2 hectares, a tiny yet globally celebrated site which Peter von Weymarn, through his persistent efforts during the major site reform of 1971, saved from standardisation. These are joined by other famous names such as Hipping, Ölberg, Orbel and Pettenthal. 80 per cent of the vineyard area is planted with Riesling, supplemented by Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir.

Since 2006, the estate has been fully leased to the St. Antony Winery, yet the name and wines of Heyl zu Herrnsheim live on as a separate range. A monk has adorned the label since 1890 – one of the oldest label motifs in Germany. Baron Heyl zu Herrnsheim is more than just a winery – it is the venerable voice of the Roter Hang, a living testament to Rhein-Hessian wine culture, which to this day tells the story from 1561 to the present day in every bottle.