Mosel

The wine-growing region is located in Rhineland-Palatinate and to a small extent also in Saarland in Germany. The Moselle River winds its way from Trier to Koblenz over 237 km, but as the crow flies it is only 96 km. The vineyards cover 8,798 hectares of vines, stretching along the Moselle from its headwaters in the Vosges Mountains on the border of Luxembourg to its confluence with the Rhine near Koblenz, as well as along its two tributaries, the Saar and the Ruwer. These three rivers gave the wine-growing region the old name Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, which was valid until 2007. The oldest vineyards in Germany are located on the upper Moselle. The Romans were already cultivating vines here in the 1st century BC and founded the city of Augusta Treverorum, today's Trier, in 15 BC. Remains of old Roman presses can still be seen in Piesport and Erden. The Neumagen wine ship also points to Roman wine culture. The two Roman poets Ausonius (310-395) and Venantius Fortunatus (530-610) described the beauty of the landscape during boat trips on the Moselle. In the Middle Ages, the Benedictine order owned many vineyards along the banks of the three rivers, to which many individual vineyard names attest.

After occupying this area in 1807, Emperor Napoleon (1769-1821) passed a law whose negative after-effects can still be felt today. In order to prevent large-scale land ownership, he ordered "real division", by which land ownership was to be divided equally among all descendants in the event of inheritance. The result was a fragmentation into innumerable, often extremely small, land units. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the former territory of the Electorate of Trier was annexed to the Prussian state. As a result, the royal government took various measures to improve the economic situation of Moselle winegrowers. These included the Prussian site classification, the founding of the winegrowers' association and the establishment of three winegrowing domains on the Moselle and Saar, which ushered in a golden age of Moselle winegrowing. This continued the tradition of the great wine lover King Frederick the Great (1712-1786), who had already had a vineyard planted on the southern slope of the Klausberg in Sanssouci Park in Potsdam in 1769.

Climate & Soil

The wine-growing region belongs to the warmer climatic zones of Germany. The Moselle, like all bodies of water, exerts a positive influence or creates the conditions for this by forming valley slopes. Viticulture benefits from the ideal combination of steep, sun-drenched slopes, the sun-reflecting slate soils and optimal rainfall. In some steep slopes, cultivation is only possible using special equipment and monorack tracks. Calmont is one of the steepest vineyards in the world, with a slope of up to 68°. Due to the heat storage, frosts are largely prevented. There are only slight temperature fluctuations. As a rule, there are pleasantly warm summers and only moderately cold winters. The soils on the upper course of the Moselle consist of shell limestone and Keuper, and on the middle and lower course of the Moselle and in the valleys of the Saar and Ruwer of Devonian and clay slate. The dark clay slate is found in about half of the vineyards.

The slate stores the sun's heat during the day and releases it again at night, which makes for a mild climate. The vines are usually rooted metres deep in the soil or rock. Many small winegrowers work the often terraced steep slopes in painstaking manual labour and deliver their grapes to large wineries. Mosel is divided into six areas with 19 large vineyards and 524 individual vineyards. The 242-kilometre-long Moselle Wine Route begins directly behind the German-French border in Perl, runs along the river and crosses it several times. Along the way, it touches many famous wine-growing communities and finally ends in Koblenz.

Areas, municipalities and sites

German wine law allows the area name to be used on the label without the addition of "Bereich" (area), as long as there are no place names or single vineyard designations with which confusion could arise. The winegrowers from the "Saar" had already practised this from the time of the name change, but this was not possible for those on the "Ruwer". In 2019, vineyards with the name part "Ruwer" in the district of Trier-Ruwer, which are no longer cultivated, were deleted from the vineyard register, thus making it possible to cite them on the label.

The area Bernkastel or Mittelmosel (formerly Untermosel) is the heart of the region with the most vineyards. It stretches from Briedel in the north upstream to the Moselle metropolis of Trier in the south, a distance of about 50 kilometres. The Moselle flows through the area in ten relatively narrow loops. The large area covers almost 6,000 hectares of vineyards and is divided into ten major vineyards: Badstube, Kurfürstlay, Michelsberg, Münzlay, Nacktarsch, Schwarzlay, St. Michael, Probstberg, Römerlay and Vom heißen Stein. The most famous Moselle communities and vineyards are located here. One of the most famous single vineyard sites in the area and also in Germany is Bernkasteler Doctor. It belongs to the renowned Großlage Badstube with (unusually) only first-class sites. For the most part, the deep soils consist of dark blue weathered Devonian slate with often high stone content; in the municipality of Ürzig there is also Rotliegendes (red sandstone). The best-known wine-growing communities with their individual vineyards:

• Avelsbach: Altenberg, Hammerstein, Herrenberg, Kupp, Rotlei
• Bernkastel Old bathhouse on Doctorberg, Bratenhöfchen, Doctor, Graben, Johannisbrünnchen, Kardinalsberg, Lay, Matheisbildchen, Rosenberg, Schlossberg, Stephanus-Rosengärtchen, Weisenstein
• Brauneberg Juffer, Juffer Sonnenuhr, Kammer, Klostergarten, Mandelgraben
• Briedel: Herzchen, Nonnengarten, Schäferlay, Schelm, Weisserberg
• Castles: Bischofstein, Hasenläufer, Kirchberg, Römerberg
• Detzem: Maximiner Klosterlay, Würzgarten
• Enkirch: Batterieberg, Edelberg, Ellergrub, Herrenberg, Monteneubel, Steffensberg, Weinkammer, Zeppwingert
• Erden: Bußlay, Herrenberg, Prälat, Treppchen (Herzlei)
• Graach: Abtsberg, Domprobst, Himmelreich, Josephshöfer
• Kesten: Herrenberg, Paulinsberg, Paulinshofberger
• Kinheim: Hubertuslay, Römerhang, Rosenberg
• Klotten: Brauneberg, Coreidelsteiner Castle, Rosenberg
• Klüsserath: Brotherhood
• Köwerich: Held, Laurentiuslay
• Kröv: Burglay, Herrenberg, Kirchlay, Letterlay, Paradies, Steffensberg
• Leiwen: Monastery garden, Laurentiuslay
• Lieser: Niederberg-Helden, Rosenlay, Schlossberg, Süßenberg
• Longuich: Herrenberg, Hirschlay, Maximiner Herrenberg
• Lösnich: Burgberg, Försterlay
• Maring-Noviand: Honigberg, Klosterberg, Lambertuslay, Roman path, Sundial
• Mehring: Blattenberg (with cadastral site Layet), Goldkupp, Zellerberg
• Mülheim: Amtgarten, Elisenberg, Helenenkloster, Sonnenlay
• Neumagen-DrohnEngelgrube, Großer Hengelberg, Häs'chen, Hofberger, Laudamusberg, Nußwingert, Rosengärtchen, Sonnenuhr
• Piesport: Domherr, Falkenberg, Gärtchen, Goldtröpfchen, Grafenberg, Günterslay, Hofberger, Kreuzwingert, Schubertslay, Treppchen
• Pölich: Held
• Pünderich: Goldlay, Marienburg, Nonnengarten, Rosenberg
• Reil: Falklay, Goldlay, Mullay-Hofberg, Sorentberg
• Thörnich: Enggaß, Ritsch, Schießlay
• Treis: Greth, Kapellenberg, Treppchen
• Trier: Altenberg, Andreasberg, Augenscheiner, Benediktinerberg, Burgberg, Deutschherrenberg, Deutschherrenköpfchen, Herrenberg, Jesuitenwingert, Kupp, Kurfürstenhofberg, Rotlei, St. Martiner Hofberg, St. Martiner Klosterberg, St. Matheiser, St. Maximiner Kreuzberg, St. Petrusberg, Thiergarten Felsköpfchen, Thiergarten Unterm Kreuz
• Traben-Trarbach: Burgberg, Gaispfad, Goldgrube, Hühnerberg, Klosterberg, Königsberg, Kräuterhaus, Kreuzberg, Schatzgarten, Schlossberg, Sonnenlay, Taubenhaus, Ungsberg, Würzgarten, Zollturm
• Trittenheim: Altärchen, pharmacy, Felsenkopf, Leiterchen
• Ürzig: Goldwingert, Würzgarten (Kranklei, Sundial)
• Veldenz: Carlsberg, Elisenberg, Grafschafter Sonnenberg, Kirchberg, Mühlberg
• Wehlen: Abbey, Hofberg, Klosterberg, Nonnenberg, Rosenberg, Sundial
• Wintrich: Geierslay, Großer Herrgott, Ohligsberg, Stefanslay
• Wittlich: Bottchen, Felsentreppchen, Klosterweg, Kupp, Lay, Portnersberg, Rosenberg
• Wolf: Auf der Heide, Goldgrube, Schatzgarten, Sonnenlay, Klosterberg
• Zeltingen: Deutschherrenberg, Himmelreich, Schlossberg, Sonnenuhr

The Burg Cochem (formerly Zell) area is also called the Terrassenmosel, after the many terraced slopes. It stretches along the lower Moselle from Koblenz to Zell and is divided into five major vineyards: Goldbäumchen, Grafschaft, Rosenhang, Schwarze Katz and Weinhex. The landscape is characterised by many medieval castles. The vineyards cover around 1,500 hectares of vines. Some of the slopes are extremely steep, so that the vines can only grow on narrow terraces secured by walls. Among the most famous is the already mentioned Calmont, which also has a special microclimate. The soils consist of clay and silty slate, often interspersed with limestone, quartzite or sandstone. Well-known wine-growing communities with their individual vineyards:

• Alf: Arrasburg-Schlossberg, Burggraf, Herrenberg, Hölle, Kapellenberg, Katzenkopf, Kronenberg.
• Beilstein: Schlossberg, Silberberg
• Bremm: Abbey Klosterstuben, Calmont, Frauenberg, Laurentiusberg, Schlemmertröpfchen
• Bruttig-Fankel: Götterlay, Kapellenberg, Layenberg, Martinsborn, Pfarrgarten, Rathausberg, Rosenberg
• Bullay: Brautrock, Count Beyßel Herrenberg, Kroneberg, Sonneck
• Burg: Schlossberg, Thomasberg, Wendelstück
• Cochem: Arzlay, Bischofsstuhl, Herrenberg, Hochlay, Klostergarten, Nikolausberg, Pinnerkreuzberg, Rosenberg, Schlossberg, Sonnenberg
• Ebernach: Bischofsstuhl, Klostergarten, Sonnenberg
• Ediger: Elzhofberg, Feuerberg, Osterlämmchen
• Eller: Bienenlay, Calmont, Engelströpfchen, Höll, Kapplay, Pfirsichgarten, Schützenlay, Stubener Klostersegen
• Ernst: Fire Mountain, Kirchlay
• Hatzenport: Bischofstein Castle, Kirchberg, Stolzenberg
• Merl: Adler, Fettgarten, Klosterberg, Königslay Terraces, Sonneck, Stephansberg
• Mesenich: Abteiberg, Deuslay, Goldgrübchen
• Neef: Frauenberg, Petersberg, Rosenberg
• Pomerania: Goldberg, Rosenberg, Sundial, Zeisel
• Senheim: Bienengarten, Lay, Römerberg, Rosenberg, Rüberberger Domherrenberg, Vogteiberg, Wahrsager
• St. Aldegund: Himmelreich, Klosterkammer, Palmberg Terraces
• Valwig: Herrenberg, Palmberg, Schwarzenberg
• Winningen: Brückstück, Domgarten, Hamm, Röttgen, Uhlen
• Zell: Burglay rocks, Domherrenberg, Geisberg, Kreuzlay, Marienburger, Nußberg, Petersborn-Kabertchen, Pommerell, Römerquelle, Rosenborn.

The Moselle loop with a view from the single vineyard or Mount Calmont. At the foot of the mountain on the right is the municipality of Bremm, at the back on the left is the municipality of Eller and in the middle is the municipality of Neef.

The Upper Mos elle area is sometimes also referred to as the Southern Wine Moselle. It covers about 670 hectares of vineyards south of Trier on the border with Luxembourg and is divided into two large vineyards, Gipfel and Königsberg. The only rarely steep vineyards in wide valleys stretch from Perl to Wasserliesch. The predominant soils are not slate, but shell limestone, Keuper and marl. This is why the area is often compared to the Champagne region. A speciality is the ancient grape variety Elbling, from which sparkling wines are made. Well-known wine-growing communities with their individual vineyards are:

• Fellerich: Schleidberg
• Helfant-Esingen: Kapellenberg
• Igel: Dullgärten
• Kreuzweiler: Thorner Kupp castle
• Langsur: Brüderberg
• Liersberg: Pilgrims' Hill
• Mesenich: Held
• Nittel: Blümchen, Hubertusberg, Leiterchen, Rochusfels
• Palzem: Carlsfelsen, Lay
• Rehlingen: Kapellenberg
• Wasserliesch: Albachtaler, Reinig at the castle
• Waves: Altenberg
• Wincheringen: Warsberg Castle

The small Moseltor area on the upper Moselle was defined as a separate area because it lies in the federal state of Saarland. It comprises around 110 hectares of vineyards in the municipality of Perl with the single vineyards Hasenberg and St. Quiriniusberg (Großlage Schloss Bübinger).

The Ruwertal area, which is free of large vineyards, was separated from the Saar area in 1998. The steep vineyards with only 200 hectares extend largely on both sides of the Moselle tributary between Riveris and Trier-Ruwer. The preferred sites are in side valleys of the Ruwer. Viticulture was already practised here in pre-Roman times, which is why the area is claimed to be the oldest German wine-growing region. The shallow to medium-textured soils are characterised by weathered, mostly blue or grey Devonian slate and have a high proportion of fine soil. At around 90%, the proportion of Riesling here is the highest in the growing region. The average temperatures are somewhat lower than on the Mosel, so the wines are more acidic, as on the Saar. The wine-growing communities with their individual vineyards are:

• Eitelsbach: Karthäuserhofberg, Marienholz
• Franzenheim: Johannisberg
• Kasel: Dominikanerberg, Herrenberg, Hitzlay, Kehrnagel, Nies'chen, Paulinsberg, Timpert
• Korlingen: Laykaul
• LorenzhofFelslay, Mäuerchen
• Maximin GreenhouseAbtsberg, Bruderberg, Herrenberg
• Mertesdorf: Herrenberg, Johannisberg
• Morscheid: Dominikanerberg
• Riveris: Heiligenhäuschen, Kuhnchen
• Ruwer: Maximiner, Sonnenberg
• Sommerau: Schlossberg
• Trier: Karthäuserhofberg, Maximinerberg, Sonnenberg
• Waldrach: Doktorberg, Ehrenberg, Heiligenhäuschen, Hubertusberg, Jesuitengarten, Jungfernberg, Krone, Kurfürstenberg, Laurentiusberg, Meisenberg, Sonnenberg

The Saar area, named after the river, is divided into the Großlage Scharzberg with 22 individual vineyards. The name of the Großlage refers to the single vineyard Scharzhofberg, which is most famous here. The area comprises around 730 hectares of vineyards, and around the same amount is currently not cultivated. It stretches from Filzen at the mouth of the Moselle Saar upstream to Serrig, as well as in the "Konzer Tälchen", a side valley of the Saar branching off from Konz. The soils are largely dominated by grey-blue Hunsrück slate of varying degrees of weathering and are interspersed with clayey brown earth. The vineyards are around 50 to 100 metres higher and the average temperatures are somewhat lower than on the Moselle. The resulting delayed ripening of the grapes is one of the reasons why the Riesling wines here are somewhat more acidic. The wine-growing communities with their individual vineyards are:

• Ayl: Herrenberger, Kupp, Scheidterberg
• Falkenstein: Hofberg
• Filzen: Herrenberg, Liebfrauenberg, Pulchen, Steinberger, Unterberg, Urbelt
• Irsch: Sonnenberg
• Kanzem: Altenberg, Hörecker, Schlossberg, Sonnenberg
• Kastel-Staadt: König-Johann-Berg, Maximiner Prälat
• Konz: Auf der Wiltinger Kupp, Euchariusberg, Carthusian monastery hill
• Könen: Fels, Kirchberg
• Krettnach: Altenberg, Euchariusberg
• Niederleuken: Fox
• Niedermennig: Euchariusberg, Herrenberg, Sonnenberg
• Oberemmel: Agritiusberg, Altenberg, Hütte, Karlsberg, Raul, Rosenberg
• Ockfen: Bockstein, Geisberg
• Pellingen: Herrgottsrock, Jesuitengarten
• Saarburg: Antoniusbrunnen, Bergschlösschen, Fuchs, Klosterberg, Kupp, Laurentiusberg, Rausch, Schlossberg, Stirn
• Schoden: Geisberg, Herrenberg, Saarfeilser Marienberg
• Serrig: Antoniusberg, Heiligenborn, Herrenberg, Hoepslei, König-Johann-Berg, Kupp, Saarfelser Schlossberg, Saarsteiner Schloss, Vogelsang, Würtzberg
• Wawern: Goldberg, Herrenberger, Jesuitenberg, Ritterpfad
• Wiltingen: Braune Kupp, Braunfels, Gottesfuß, Hölle, Klosterberg, Kupp, Rosenberg, Sandberg, Scharzhofberg, Schlangengraben, Schlossberg

Grape variety list

Compared to 2009, there were no serious changes. At over 90%, the proportion of white wine grapes is the highest of all 13 wine-growing regions (followed by the Rheingau with 85%). Riesling clearly dominates with almost two-thirds of the total area. The climbers were Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The 2018 status (0 = smaller than 0.5 hectares):

Producers

Well-known producers in the Mosel growing region include Agritiushof, A. J. Adam, Amlinger & Sohn, Bastgen, Bauer Jörg, Becker-Steinhauer, Bernkasteler Ring, Berres, Berweiler-Merges, Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier, Blees-Ferber, Boendgen, Brohl Frank, Böcking Richard, Busch Clemens, Carl Loewen, Caspari-Kappel, Clüsserath Ansgar, Clüsserath-Eifel, Clüsserath Ernst, Clüsserath-Hilt, Clüsserath-Weiler, Dax, Deutschherrenhof, Dienhart Timo, Dr. Fischer, Dr. F. Weins-Prüm, Dr. Heinz Wagner, Dr. Hermann, Dr. Leimbrock - C. Schmidt, Dr. Loosen, Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler, Egon Müller-Scharzhof, Eifel Bernhard, Eifel Christoph, Eifel Franz-Josef, Erben von Beulwitz, Erbes Karl, Fendt Wein familie, Fischer Stephan, Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken, Franzen Michael, Franzen Reinhold, Freiherr von Heddesdorff, Freiherr von Schleinitz, Frieden-Berg, Friedrich-Kern, Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium, Fries Reiner, Fuchs Reinhold, Gebr. Ludwig, Geheimrat J. Wegeler Erben, Gietzen Albrecht, Gorges-Müller, Grans-Fassian, Großer Ring VDP Mosel, Haag Fritz, Haag Willi, Haart Johann, Haart Reinhold, Hain Kurt, Heymann-Löwenstein, Hövel, Hubertushof, Immich-Batterieberg, Jakoby-Mathy, Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben, Jos. Christoffel jr.,

Kallfelz, Kanzlerhof, Karlsmühle, Karthäuserhof, Kees-Kieren, Kerpen, Kettern Lothar, Kiebel Benedikt, K. J. Thul, Klein Louis, Knebel Beate, Knodt-Trossen, König Johann, Kranz-Junk, Kröber Rüdiger, Lauer Peter, Laurentiushof, Lehnert-Veit, Loersch-Eifel, Lorenz Nikolaus, Losen-Bockstanz, Lotz Klaus, Lubentiushof, Martin Conrad - Brauneberger Hof, Max Ferd. Richter, Maximin Grünhaus - Weingut der Familie von Schubert, Mertes Johann Peter, Milz Josef, Molitor, Mönchhof Robert Eymael, Mosel 2000, Müllen Martin, Nik Weis - St. Urbans-Hof, Norwig, Othegraven, Paulinshof, Pauly Rudolf, Philipps-Eckstein, Prüm, Joh. Jos. Prüm, S. A. Prüm, Reh Winfried, Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, Reinert, Resch Hans, Reuscher-Haart, Reverchon, Richter Richard, Römerhof, Roth Andreas, Schaefer Willi, Schloss Lieser, Schloss Saarstein, Schmitges, Schmitt Heinz, Schneiders Moritz, Schömann Martin, Schumacher Joachim, Schunk Paul, Schwaab Albert, Selbach-Oster, Später-Veit, Staatliche Weinbaudomäne Trier, Staffelter Hof, St. Anna, Steffens Ernst, Steinmetz Günther, St. Nikolaus-Hof, Stoffel Alfons, Studert-Prüm, Thanisch Ludwig, Van Volxem, Vereinigte Hospitien, Vornhecke Stefanie, Weinhof Herrenberg, Willems-Willems, Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch Erben Müller-Burggraef, Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch Erben Than isch und Zenzen Ewald.