Haardt is a tiny wine-growing district just outside the city of Neustadt, at the heart of Germany's Pfalz wine region. It is known for its high-quality Riesling wines, which are typically complex and fuller-bodied than most German Rieslings. The classic Haardter Riesling has aromas of grapefruit, sweet lime zest and a touch of minerality.
Pfalz's wine-growing districts are generally named after the village or town at their center, but Haardt is a little different. It takes its name instead from the low-lying Haardt Mountains that play such a vital role in the terroir here (and throughout Pfalz). The word haardt itself is Old High German and translates roughly as 'hilly forest'.
The Haardt district's vineyards hug tightly to the eastern edge of the Pfälzerwald forest, occupying much of the land between Neustadt town and the outlying villages of Hambach and Gimmeldingen. Almost all of the land and vineyards here once belonged to the historic Hambacher Schloss, the castle that overlooks the area from a dome-topped hill high above Hambach. The most notable vineyard owner in the modern day is the Muller-Catoir winery.
Immediately above the area towers the Weinbiet peak, whose 1817ft (554m) summit is one of the highest points in the Haardt range. Thanks to the rain shadow cast by this peak, and the hills that surround it, the Haardt vineyards enjoy a drier and more sheltered climate than that found across the Rhine. The combination of low rainfall, high sunshine hours and shelter from cold westerly winds makes for an excellent wine-growing climate.
The most prized vineyard here, and the only one granted Grosse Lage status, is Burgergarten Breumel in den Mauern. This three-acre (1.2ha) site is home to some of Pfalz's oldest Riesling vines. The walls (the Mauern cited in the name) that protect this site are made from sandstone quarried from the hills above, and also provide a glimpse of the bedrock below the vineyard. Up to 10ft (3m) high in places, they provide more than physical security; they also reflect heat back into the close in the late afternoon and evening. The Haardter Burgergarten Riesling wines that come from the site typically show subtle green-fruit aromas laced over a strong mineral body.
Immediately north of Haardt are the vineyards of Konigsbach.
