The Mosel

The Mosel

The vineyards of the Mosel

Mosel, Saar, Ruwer & Ahr

1 - 5 October 2008

One of the fastest growing sectors of the wine trade is quality German wine so it is fitting that we should have a new tour that takes you to the heartland of the Mosel and its tributory rivers the Saar and Ruwer. For the first part of the tour we stay in Trier and after this in the Mosel wine village of Zeltingen.

We have a great line up of visits, some that we have been visiting for years and some brand new estates from our recent research in the area. On our first evening we dine at the Palais Kesselstatt in Trier tasting the wines of Reichsgraf Von Kesselstatt. These are fine wines with vivid fruit and a neat focused character.

Our first morning tasting is with Wgt Ayler Kupp, one of the rising stars of the Saar who are reinterpreting the famous vineyard of the Ayler Kupp with stunning results. We continue to Schlöss Saarstein to taste their superb Saar Rieslings on their terrace with its stunning views over the valley. We have lunch at the Schloss. Return to Trier for the rest of the afternoon.
Von Othegraven is the main estate on the Kanzem Altenburg.

This is the only great south facing vineyard actually on the River Saar. (The other great vineyard are in side valleys at 90º to the river). This gives the Altenburg’s wines a richness which interplays with their Saar character, that austere, steely core, The best wines from the Ruwer have a delicacy about them with fine leafy, blackcurrant aromas and none are better than those of Weingut Karlsmuhle where we taste and have lunch.

We then move onto the Mosel River itself and over the next day and a half meet some of the top wine makers responsible for the revival of the German wine industry, Dr. Dirk Richter of Max-Ferd Richter, Ernst Loosen of Dr Loosen and Theo Haart of Reinhold-Haart.

We’ll taste some of the greatest Rieslings in the world, from top sites in the Mosel such as Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Ürziger Würzgarten and Brauneberger Juffer. We’ll be tasting elegant, racy and stylish Rieslings, in the main fairly dry but we also taste specialities Beerenauslese and Eiswein which are intensely sweet. It is also worth mentioning that these vineyards are among the most enchanting in Europe.

On our return journey, we call in on the Ahr valley which is having its autumn festival which should be fun. Here, with Weingut Kreuzberg and others, we taste good reds from Pinot Noir. The quality of the Pinot Noir made in the Ahr, indeed in much of Germany has increased vastly over the past few years.

This will be a fabulous wine holiday with the added bonus of being able to buy excellent wines at cellar-door prices.