For over 100 years, the Hermannshöhle has been rated the best site in the Nahe and is therefore the bench mark by which all other vineyards in the region are judged. This site takes its name from a small mine (Höhle which actually means "cave") in the middle of the hillside. Hermann comes Herms, the Greek guardian of messengers and travelers, which might indicate that at one point this was an area of ancient worship. The soils are mostly black slate mixed with extrusive igneous rock, porphyry and limestone.