Ockfener Bockstein

Nomen est Omen (The Name Speaks for Itself)

Ockfener Bockstein has approximately 50 ha and is located in a side valley above the wine village of Ockfen. Findings suggest that vines were planted on these protected slopes as early as 2,000 years ago.

Bockstein is a south-facing slope. It looks like a cauldron. The soil consists of gray slate and hard gray quartzite-bearing sandstone. But there is also milky quartz. Many of the vines are still trained on single wooden stakes. The wines are spritzy, smoky, and tangy. In the late 19th century, it was considered one of the top sites, second only to the Scharzhofberg.

The Buck his Stone

On the ridge of the Bockstein, to the left of the village, there is a towering rock crowned by a cross. The older villagers say that in earlier times a “Baron von Bock” from Trier hunted in the State forest. His favorite spot to hunt was said to have been this rock. Thus the villagers called this striking rock henceforth “The Buck his Stone”. From this popular name came the derivation Bockstein. Another mythological derivation goes back to the billy goat (Geisbock in German), whose fertility was a symbol of the Dionysus cult.