North of the Rheinhessen region, where the Rhine River bends to travel west to east, lies the Rheingau. With its long history of Riesling winemaking, the Rheingau was home to the 18th-century scholars who formulated the Prädikat system of ranking wines by the ripeness of their grape at harvest time. Riesling still dominates wines production from the Reingau. Hochheim, at the far eastern end of the region, was long a source for wine exported to Great Britain, and over time “hock” became an inaccurate shorthand reference for all German white wine.
Pronunciation
[RYNE-gow]
