Steinberg, Kloster Eberbach
Steinberg is a wall-enclosed vineyard (a Clos, using French terminology) near Hattenheim in the Rheingau. It is the largest wall-enclosed vineyard in Germany. Steinberg is one of handful single vineyard sites in Germany which for reasons of historical significance have dispensation from having to include a village name together with the vineyard's name, so the wines from Steinberg are simply labelled Steinberger. The vineyard belongs to the government-owned Hessische Staatsweingüter (Hessian State Wineries) and is today planted with only Riesling vines. History It was founded around 1170 by Cistercian monks of nearby Eberbach Abbey (Kloster Eberbach). The 2600 meter long wall encircling the vineyard was completed in 1767. The new winemaking facility of the owner Hessische Staatsweingüter was built just outside the wall of Steinberg. It is now the central cellar of the state wineries and was put into operation here in 2008. Since then the Steinberg has become the operating centre of the largest winery in Hesse. The Steinberg Cellar was built from 2006 to 2008 according to the plans of the architect Reinhard Moster from Neustadt an der Weinstraße at a cost of 15,800,000 euros. It occupies a floor space of 64 meters by 83 meters and extends