Wines from Taubach -
a delicacy of the Late Middle Age or just another name for Ilm valley vinegar? Nobody knows this exactly in the present time, because the last drop was already long drunk or used for salad dressing.
With the founding of the monasteries came the viticulture into the Ilm valley around the first millennium AD. This happened at a time, which is climatically described as the "Medieval Climate Optimum", in which the pack ice pulled back to the north and many land glaciers completely disappeared. With today's German standards measured this natural process was a total climate disaster. The earth warmed up seemingly unstoppable, which naturally shifted the barrier of vine growing quite a bit to the north. It can be assumed that the vine cultivation quickly entered its environment in the Ilm valley before the monastery Oberweimar was founded (between 1242 - 1244). Vineyards were referred for the first time in a document dated 15th July 1258 ("… in vinea supradicta. Sub eadem forma contulimus ipsi Ottoni etiam et dño Heinrico de Corbecke quatuor agros monasterii nostri intra Wimar et Toubeche sitos …"). The slope between the villages Taubach and Oberweimar was usable for agriculture over 1.5 mi (presently 0.4 mi) in length at this time, was particularly well suitable for winegrowing and is currently called "In den Weinbergen" (In the Vineyards).
The wine of such a dream location was rather an enjoyment than a great deal of annoyance certainly, wherefore it cannot surprise that the most of the vineyards of the environments were located at Taubachian soil in this time, mostly in possession of the nunnery Oberweimar. But there were also years, in which not matured the vine grapes. As the tenant of a vineyard, usually to the half of the emblements as rent, one must have felt as dancing on a volcano - at any time could be terminated without notice because of "unfeeling or mischief".
Of course, such a small village as Taubach can't measure with the huge vineyard areas, which were around Erfurt or Jena in this time. In the 16th century the climate slowly changed to lower temperatures (please note: the next climate disaster!), a period until the mid of the 19th century, which is also called "Little Ice Age" in "specialist circles". The number of bad harvests became more frequent, damage of vine due to freezing too. The Thirty Years' War, the plague and competition from climatically more favorable regions favored the decline of winegrowing. Often many wineyards remained ungrowed and went into fallow land; many of this will be used up no longer intensively used for agriculture to our present time. The find book from 1727 lists a total of 47 vineyards at Taubach, which "… so jetzo Acker und Brachland seyend …" (are acre and fallows now).
Nearly all grape vines which growed close to a house wall are disappeared in the present time, the grapes of the few remaining vines are often victims of wasps, hornets or blackbirds. Old, small-berry grape varieties are often unable to cope with the climate change, as they first burn and then rot in the intense sunlight, the infestation with mildew has also increased. It can help to dodge to large-berry grape varietals or to plant the old varieties at partially shaded locations. But the one or other oenophile should occasionally succeed to press some bottles of Taubachian wine, just in times gone by, against anew climatic disaster.