(Silke Lautenschläger) Secretary of the Environment and for Energy, Agriculture and Consumer Protection

Foreword

The federal state of Hesse has a long tradition of vineyard surveying dating back to the middle of the last century. The surveys of the 1950s and 60s focused on the key issues affecting viticulture such as the soil and climatic requirements of phylloxera-resistant rootstocks. The summarized results were published as a set of large-scale maps to be used for regional planning purposes and called "Digital Atlas of the Wine-Growing Regions of Hesse". The present second edition of the Atlas has been thoroughly revised and expanded to cover the vast number of different topics available today.

Apart from traditional viticultural issues, the atlas also integrates aspects of environmental, landscape and groundwater protection. This reflects the current broader view required for site-appropriate viticulture.

The atlas presents site climate and soil characteristics in the form of risks and potentials, for example water stress, potential erosion risk or potential must weights. This provides the wine-grower with a working basis and tool for characterizing his vineyards for marketing purposes. The interested wine-lover will find the necessary information in the Site Atlas for an in-depth view of the natural potential of the vineyards.

The English edition of the digital atlas represents a German contribution to the international knowledge base for this topic. This compendium summarizes the methodological basis and results of the vineyard site evaluation. I hope the atlas will inspire other wine-growing regions to adopt systematic site evaluation procedures in the interest of winemaking and environmental protection and as a basis for assessing the terroir.