Mosel (former Mosel-Saar-Ruwer)

Wine-growing region in Germany with a total vineyard area of 10.392 hectares, most of which is located in the federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz, with a small portion in the federal state of Saarland. The vineyards are located along the Mosel river from its source in the Vogesen mountains on the border with Luxembourg right up to its confluence with the Rhine at Koblenz, as well as along the two tributaries, the Saar and Ruwer rivers. These three rivers contributed to the old name for the region, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, which applies only to the autumn of 2007. The oldest vineyards in Germany are to be found on the upper Mosel, the Romans grew vines here in the 1st century BC, and founded the city of Augusta Treverorum, known today as Trier, in 15 BC. An old Roman wine press can still be viewed in the village of Erden. Two Roman writers described the boat trips on the Mosel, the beautiful scenery, and also praised the wine, they are the poet Ausonius (310-395) in his famous poem „Mosella“, written around 370 AD, and Venantius Fortunatus (530-610), who wrote in 588 AD. The Benedictine order owned large tracts of vineyards on the banks of all three rivers. The oldest document proving that Riesling was grown along the Mosel dates back to 1464. The planting of the variety, which was not yet regarded as a top-quality noble variety at the time, was encouraged by the Benedictine abbey of St. Maximin in Trier, as abbot Wittmann ordered 100.000 new Riesling vines to be planted in 1695. Emperor Napoleon (1769-1821), after occupying the territory, issued a decree in 1807, the negative effects of which can still be felt today. In order to avoid any landowners becoming too important, he decreed that all property should be subject to “real division” , as was also the case in France. This means that when a property is inherited from a deceased relative, the property must be split equally among all the heirs. This led to a fragmentation of property into tiny parcels of land.

There are 6 districts with 19 regional sites (Grosslage) and 524 individual vineyard sites. The district formerly known as Saar-Ruwer was split into the two districts of Ruwertal and Saar in 1998. The Bernkastel district (formerly Untermosel, or Lower Mosel) stretches from Briedel to Trier. It is divided into 10 regional sites, Badstube, Kurfürstlay, Michelsberg, Münzlay, Nacktarsch, Schwarzlay, St. Michael, Probstberg, Römerlay (with the individual vineyard sites of the city of Trier) and Vom heißen Stein. Well-known wine-producing towns and villages, with their principal vineyard sites are Bernkastel with Alte Badstube am Doctorberg, Bratenöfchen, Doctor and Graben; Brauneberg with Kammer, Juffer, Juffer Sonnenuhr and Mandelgraben; Erden with Prälat and Treppchen; Graach with Domprobst, Himmelreich and Josephshöfer; Kesten with Paulinshofberger; Kröv with Paradies; Leiwen with Laurentiuslay; Lieser with Niederberg-Helden, Rosenlay, Schlossberg and Süßenberg; Piesport with Domherr, Falkenberg and Goldtröpfchen; Trittenheim with Altärchen and Apotheke; Ürzig with Würzgarten; Wehlen with Klosterberg, Nonnenberg and Sonnenuhr; Wintrich with Ohligsberg and Stefanslay; as well as Zeltingen with Deutschherrenberg, Himmelreich and Sonnenuhr.

The Burg Cochem district (formerly Zell) stretches from Koblenz to Zell. It is sub-divided into the five regional sites Goldbäumchen, Grafschaft, Rosenhang, Schwarze Katz and Weinhex. Well-known wine-producing towns and villages, with their principal sites are Bremm and Ediger-Eller with Calmont; Winningen with Brückstück, Röttgen and Uhlen; as well as Zell with Burglay-Felsen and Nußberg. The Moseltor district in the federal state of Saarland with the regional site Schloss Bübinger includes only the 100 hectares of vineyard site in the commune of Perl. The Obermosel district stretches from Igel to Palzem. It is sub-divided into the two regional sites Zwei Gipfel and Königsberg. Well-known wine-producing towns and villages are Igel, Langsur and Liersberg. The Ruwertal region, which does not have any regional sites, stretches from Waldrach to Trier-Ruwer. Well-known towns and villages, with their principal sites, are Kasel with Hitzlay and Nies´chen; as well as Trier-Eitelsbach with the Karthäuserhofberg. The Saar district has the regional site Scharzberg, and stretches from Konz to Serrig. Well-known wine-producing towns with their principal vineyard sites are Falkenstein with Hofberg, Ockfen with Bockstein and Geisberg; Saarburg with Rausch and Schloßberg; Serrig with Antoniusberg, Herrenberg, Schloss Saarsteiner and Vogelsang; as well as Wiltingen with Braune Kupp, Kupp#Braune Kupp, Gottesfuß, Rosenberg and Scharzhofberg. Some of the sites have a gradient of up to 100% (45°), making them among the steepest vineyard sites in the world. TheVDP statutes allow the best sites to be rated as Grand Crus, they are called Erste Lage (First Site).

Important wine producers associations include the Bernkasteler Ring, Großer Ring VDP Mosel and Mosel 2000. Well-known producers include Bastgen, Blees-Ferber, Carl Aug. Immich-Batterieberg, Carl Loewen, Clüsserath Ansgar, Clüsserath-Eifel, Clüsserath Ernst, Clüsserath-Hilt, Clüsserath-Weiler, C. von Schubert´sche Gutsverwaltung Maximin Grünhaus, Dr. Fischer, Dr. F. Weins-Prüm, Dr. Heinz Wagner, Dr. Hermann, Dr. Loosen, Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler, Egon Müller-Scharzhof, Eifel Bernhard, Eifel Franz-Josef, Erben von Beulwitz, Fischer Stephan, Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken, Franzen Reinhold, Friedrich-Kern, Fries Reiner, Geheimrat J. Wegeler Erben, Grans-Fassian, Haag Fritz, Haag Willi, Haart Reinhold, Hain Kurt, Heymann-Löwenstein, Hövel, Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben, Jos. Christoffel jr., Karlsmühle, Karthäuserhof, Kees-Kieren, Kerpen, Knebel Beate, Kröber Rüdiger, Lauer Peter, Lehnert-Veit, Martin Conrad - Brauneberger Hof, Max Ferd. Richter, Milz-Laurentiushof, Molitor, Mönchhof Robert Eymael, Paulinshof, Philipps-Eckstein, Prüm, Joh. Jos. Prüm, S. A. Prüm, Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, Reuscher-Haart, Richter Richard, Schaefer Willi, Schloss Lieser, Schloss Saarstein, Schmitges, Schmitt Heinz, Selbach-Oster, Später-Veit, Studert-Prüm, St. Urbans-Hof, Thanisch, Van Volxem, Vereinigte Hospitien, Weinhof Herrenberg, Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch Erben Müller-Burggraef and Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch Erben Thanisch.

The Mosel wine route runs along the river and crosses it at several points. Viticulture benefits from the ideal combination of extremely steep, sun-drenched slopes, the soils of decomposed slate that reflect the sun, and an optimum rainfall pattern. The soils of the upper Mosel consist of shell limestone and keuper, while on the middle and lower Mosel and in the Saar and Ruwer vallies they consist mainly of clay and Devon slate. There are many small wine producers who expand great effort in working the tiny parcels of land on steep, frequently terraced slopes, and who deliver their grapes to large wineries. White varieties make up 95% of the total, and Riesling accounts for well over half the total area. Growing red varieties was officially banned from 1933 to 1987. The international image of the region was built on the high-quality Riesling wines with their characteristic elegant acidity and an extremely long maturation potential. They also provide base wines for sparkling wines. The ancient white variety Elbling is grown almost exclusively only in this region. The statistics on grape varieties are (2001):
Variety Synonyms Colour Hectares % share
Riesling Weißer Riesling White 5.748 55,3
Müller-Thurgau Rivaner White 1.894 18,2
Elbling Kleinberger etc. White 870 8,4
Kerner - White 684 6,6
Pinot Noir Spätburgunder Red 292 2,8
Dornfelder - Red 240 2,3
Pinot Blanc Weißburgunder White 145 1,4
Bacchus - White 143 1,4
Optima - White 60 0,6
Ortega - White 47 0,5
Reichensteiner - White 45 0,5
Pinot Gris Ruländer, Grauburgunder White 39 0,4
Regent - Red 35 0,3
Chardonnay - White 19 0,2
Schwarzriesling Müllerrebe Red 9 0,1
White varieties 9.787 94,2
Red varieties 605 5,8
TOTAL 10.392 100