'Palatinate' () is a
German wine-growing
region (''Weinbaugebiet'') in the area of
Bad Dürkheim,
Neustadt an der Weinstraße, and
Landau in
Rhineland-Palatinate. Before 1993, it was known as 'Rhine Palatinate' (''Rheinpfalz''). With 230
km² under cultivation, the region is the second largest wine region in Germany after
Rheinhessen. There are about 6,800
vintners producing around 2.5 million
hectolitres of wine annually.
The Palatinate wine region overlaps with but is not coextensive with the traditional German region of
Palatinate, making up only 5% of its area. The wine region is a 80-km stretch situated under the
lee of the
Palatinate Forest on the Haardt Mountains, a continuation of
Alsace's
Vosges Mountains. Its climate is much like that of Alsace and it is the sunniest and driest of German wine regions. The
German Wine Route (''Deutsche Weinstraße'') traverses this wine region.
The region is divided into two districts (''Bereich''), ''Südliche Weinstraße'' (Southern Wine Route) in the south and ''Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstraße'' (Central Haardt-German Wine Route) in the north.

A typical half-litre ''Dubbeglas'' used for serving wine in the Palatinate wine region.
45 white and 22 red grape varieties are grown with approximately 60% of the being white wine and 40% red wine. A variety of grapes such as
Müller-Thurgau are predominant in the south while
Riesling dominates in the north.
The region also produces
spirits,
sparkling wines, wine
vinegar, and
grape seed oil.
Unlike with other German wine regions, wine is served in 50
cl glasses rather than the typical 25cl ones. They are of a special shape specific to the region and are known as the ''Dubbeglas'', widening from bottom to top and featuring indentations or large dimples (''Dubbe'') that give the glass its name. The undimpled half-litre ''Schoppenglas'' is also frequently seen in the region.
See also
★
German wine
★
Palatinate (region)
References
★ Hugh Johnson. ''The World Atlas of Wine''. Fourth Edition. Singapore: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
External links
★
Pfalzwein official site