📍 Saale-Unstrut

Saale-Unstrut is a wine region in central Germany, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, along the Saale and Unstrut rivers. It is one of the northernmost wine districts of the country, at a latitude of about 51 degrees. It is cold and dry here: rain is scarce, winters are harsh, and spring frosts threaten the vines. So vineyards are planted on steep sunny slopes, on terraces held by dry-stone walls.

Soils are varied: shell limestone, sandstone, variegated clays and loess. They give fresh, light, straightforward wines. The main grapes are Müller-Thurgau, Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) and Silvaner, with less Riesling. Among reds Dornfelder grows. Sparkling wine is also made.

The region includes the area around Schloss Neuenburg in the town of Freyburg, wine-growing Thuringia and the district of the Mansfeld lakes. The local wine with a geographical indication is called Mitteldeutscher Landwein. The wine tradition here goes back to the monasteries of the Middle Ages.

For comparison with its neighbours: to the south-west lies Franconia, to the east Saxony with vineyards along the Elbe, and to the north land where there are almost no vineyards.