Mandelgarten, Sonnenberg & Vogelsang
Mandelgarten (almond garden)
This vineyard is named after the pine tree and not the almond, as one might think. In earlier times, pine trees were planted around Weisenheim am Berg for reforestation. These pines, used to be called "Mantel". And in Palatine dialect it became "Mandel", which is Palatine for the almond. This is how the name of today's vineyard Mandelgarten came about, in reference to the "Mandeltal" (almond valley) near Weisenheim, where these conifers grew.
Soil type: Sand, terrace gravel. Loess, strongly varying
Sonnenberg (sun mountain)
The southern slopes, those facing the sun, are called this.
The original name was "Sommerbach" (summer brook) and referred to the Woog brook nearby.
Soil type: loam, sand, lime, clay, at the mountain edge shell limestone, teriary lime, marly clays, Pliocene sand, very variable, to the east loess loam predominates.
Vogelsang (bird´s singing)
Here on the Leistadt Heights, there were large-scale fields of common property. The Counts of Leiningen had claimed these for bird-catching since time immemorial. So-called "Vogelkaue" (bird huts or camouflaged holes in the ground) were built. The first bird house stood here on the Leistadter Hoehe. First documented as a vineyard name in 1587, the actual age cannot be traced. Vineyards have been cultivated here since the 19th century.
Soil type: loam with sand, sandy loam, often with sandstone rubble.
The Weisenheim am Berg vineyards at a glance:
