Forst an der Weinstrasse (or simply 'Forst') is a small village in western Germany's Pfalz wine region. Located right at the edge of the Pfälzerwald forest, just north of Deidesheim and south of Wachenheim, it is located at the very heart of Pfalz's finest vineyard area. A remarkable proportion of the vineyards here are classed as Grosse Lage.
Forst's vineyards specialize in Riesling and produce some truly world-class examples. The variety (Germany's most important in terms of both quality and quantity) occupies roughly 85% of the village's total vineyard area. Thanks to the relatively warm, dry climate here, the typical Forster Riesling is riper, richer and fuller-bodied than produced in other parts of Germany.
There are remarkable similarities between Forst and another of Europe's top wine villages, Burgundy's Vosne-Romanee. Both are long, thin villages which run north-south for about half a mile, marked by a walled graveyard at the northern end. Both are sheltered from cold winds and rain by a ridge of hills roughly 1000ft (300 meters) high (the Haardt and the Cote d'Or). Both lie on a plain which slopes gently down towards a major river 15 miles (24km) to the east (the Rhine and the Soane). Immediately west of both lies a belt of vineyards which rank among the very finest in their country (if not the world), and both specialize almost exclusively in the grape variety that has proven best-suited to the local terroir: Vosne-Romanee has its Pinot Noir, Forst has its Riesling. And where Vosne-Romanee has its six Grands Crus, Forst has its five Grosse Lagen. These similarities bode well for Forst's future as a source of world-class Pinot Noir.
Other than wine, tourism is a vital part of the village's economy. The Deutsche Weinstrasse (German Wine Route) means that the village enjoys a steady trickle of wine tourists all year round, but this swells into a torrent in August and September as hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to the region for wine festivals. Bad Durkheim and Deidesheim have much larger festivals that Forst (the Durkheimer Wurstmarkt and Deidesheimer Weinkerwe respectively), but Forst nonetheless remains a popular destination, particularly because it is located half-way between these two towns.
Forst has its own unique attraction, a pair of stone 'monsters' which guard the village's northern and southern entrances. These are the Nördliches Ungeheuer and the Südliches Ungeheuer (the 'north monster' and 'south monster'). Each of the monsters proudly sits atop a sign bearing the words Mit den besten Weinlagen der Pfalz ('with the best vineyards in Pfalz'). One of the village's Grosse Lage sites, Ungeheuer, is named in honor of these.
The five Grosse Lage sites, which contribute so significantly to Forst's high standing in the wine world, are Pechstein, Jesuitengarten, Kirchenstuck, Freundstuck and Ungeheuer.
Pechstein has a high proportion of volcanic basalt rock underneath sandy, loam soil. Smaller black basalt is also present on the surface level. This vineyard is located at the northern end of the village on a slight, south-facing slope. Immediately below it is the 29-acre (12-ha) Ungeheuer site, where the soil is a patchwork of volcanic basalt, red sandstone, clay and sand, creating wines of extraordinary complexity. The Ungeheuer wines were famously favored by statesman Otto von Bismark.
To the immediate west of Forst are Jesuitengarten, Kirchenstuck and Freundstuck. This trio of vineyards is widely regarded as the best in Pfalz. Such producers as Basserman-Jordan, Burklin-Wolf and von Buhl (among others) produce prized Rieslings from these sites.
The name Forst tells much about the village's history. In the early 12th Century, the land in this area was donated by its owner (Johann I, Prince-Bishop of Speyer) to the local church. Johann reserved for himself only the forest (forst) immediately north of Deidesheim. Very little remains of the forest after which Forst was named; the land is now entirely taken up with prime vineyards, and the village itself, of course.
