The winery in the community of Mülheim in the German
Moselle wine region goes back to a trading company founded in 1680 and has been owned by the family ever since. A document from the year 1643 documents a vineyard purchase in
Brauneberg. The baroque manor house with French gardens was built in 1774. The cellar, which is separate from the manor house, was built in 1880. In 1813, the ancestor Franz Ludwig Niessen (father-in-law of Ferdinand Richter) saved the community of Mülheim and the county of Veldenz from being burned by
Napoleon (1769-1821) and his troops. It came to an encounter on the Klosterberg (Helenenkloster-Weinberg), where Niessen handed over to the emperor the demanded ransom in the amount of 3,000 Thalers. Today the winery is owned by Dr. Dirk Richter and his son Constantin Richter
(oenologist).
The vineyards cover 20 hectares of vineyards in the individual locations
Juffer and
Juffer Sonnenuhr (Brauneberg),
Dompropst and
Himmelreich (Graach), Helenenkloster in Monopol and
Sonnenlay (Mülheim),
Sonnenuhr (Wehlen), and Elisenberg (Veldenz). They are predominantly planted with Riesling (19 ha), the rest with Pinot Blanc and about Pinot Noir. Pest control is carried out according to the principles of
integrated pest management. This includes the use of natural
fertilizers and the abandonment of
herbicides and
insecticides. A very late and differentiated grape harvest is carried out by hand. Fermentation takes place
spontaneously with natural yeasts. The wines are matured in traditional
fuder barrels, typical for this type of vineyard. About half of the wine is dry or semi-dry and the other half sweet. A speciality are Riesling ice wines from the monopolage Helenenkloster. A bottle-fermented vintage Riesling sparkling wine is also produced.