Queen Victoria and the Hock
The Queen on her visit in Hochheim
This vineyard is named after Queen Victoria of England (1819-1901), who came to visit Hochheim with her German husband Prince Albert on August 15, 1845. High ranking officials of Hochheim invited the queen to a wine tasting in the most beautiful and best vineyard of the parish, the vineyard Dechantenruhe.
Königin Victoriaberg her majesty's vineyard
The vineyard, which covered an area of about 5 ha, belonged to the wine estate Papstmann. Her Majesty gave Georg Michael Papstmann her royal permission to rename the vineyard Königin Victoriaberg. In gratitude for this favour, Papstmann erected a monument in the English Gothic Tudor style in the middle of the vineyards. On May 24, 1854, the 35th birthday of Queen Victoria, Papstmann proudly unveiled the Königin Victoria Denkmal.
The Hock
In Britain, good white wines from the Rhine are often called Hock. But why? The name first appears in England in 1625. It is a corruption of Hochheim, which is so difficult for English speakers to pronounce. Still today, Rieslings from the Rheingau are called Hock throughout the English speaking world.
World-class wines
The most sought after top-class wines at the beginning of the 20th century, were the red Bordeaux wines and white wines from the Rheingau. Wine aficionados paid as much for a bottle of best Rheingau wine as they did for a bottle of Château Lafite. Anybody out to purchase wine from the world famous wine merchants Berry Brothers of London, would have found a large selection of wines from the Rheingau, all listed in the catalogue under the name Hock.
But it was not just the Rheingau Rieslings that became world-famous. The Pinot Noir was known as
Red Hock and was ranked equal to the Premier Crus from Burgundy. Sparkling Hock was on a par with the famous champagnes.
Today, the best quality Rheingau wines are still among the best white wines in the world.