The Last of Their Kind: Germany’s Treasury of Old Vine Riesling
The power, pride and potential of old vines. And it turns out, the Mosel really could be where it all started..
Inside the Konzer Tälchen
Konzer Talchen is where the Saar keeps its cool.
Mythos Mosel: 10 Things to Know Before You Go
Learn more about the most dynamic way to interact with 120 producers in just one weekend.
Journey to the Center of the Mosel: a Nordic Perspective
How a former chef's trip from the Norwegian Fjords to Germany's Mosel valley took wine appreciation to the next level.
Rethinking Karthäuserhof
A new direction is taking shape at an ancient estate in the Ruwer.
Modern Mosel Pinot Noir: Riesling Dressed in Red
Winemakers in the Mosel are tending an old tradition that is budding anew. These modern Pinots reach for elegance and complexity, edginess and vitality. and the world is finally taking notice.
The Butterfly Effect: A Battle Heats Up in the Mosel
The future of the Mosel Apollo butterfly and its habitat of the Mosel terraces are endangered. Can a solution be found that allows both to continue to coexist?
The Southern Mosel Would Like a Word
Jonas Dostert is relaxing in the inner courtyard of his family’s Southern Mosel estate in Nittel. The sun is shining, the grapes were harvested in late October. Dostert is one of the growers of note at the southern end of the Mosel, a stretch long known as Obermosel. It’s a name many young growers in particular have rejected, as part of an effort to separate themselves from the region’s poor image in the past. “Obermosel” conjures images of accommodating, appeasing wines, the very definition of compromise. Dostert has quite a different understanding of winegrowing: “What I do is different from what’s…...
Is It Truly ‘Aus’ with Auslese?
With production levels dwindling, many German wine circles are asking the uncomfortable question “Is Auslese finished?” David Schildknecht answers.
Germany · Essay · Mosel · Tasting Article
What’s German for Drier Than Dry? Furztrocken, of course
The dark wit of Berlin. Dangerously low water levels in the Rhine River. Black bread. Germany does trocken like few others. And then there’s the wine. Despite its reputation as the land of Blue Nun, more than 60 percent of the wines made in Germany are dry. And within that 60 percent, there are discernible levels of dry, drier, and driest. So dry, in fact, that there’s a strangely specific word for it. (Of course there’s a word. It’s Germany. There’s always a word.) Furztrocken. Fart Dry. Literally. As difficult to grasp as I find a term like feinherb, it’s Kinderspiel when compared to furztrocken. Then again, mindset…...
Mosel – The Myth. The Legend. The Reality
The Mosel, Germany’s oldest winegrowing region, knows how to beguile. The Rheingau swathes itself in the trappings of nobility, Baden boasts of its sunshine, the Mittelrhein beckons with Romanticism. The Mosel, however, reaches straight for myth. There are many recaps of the growing region readily available, so let’s focus on something else instead: what makes the Mosel unique — now, then, and, likely, in the future. Not for nothing is the biggest annual wine fair along the Mosel River entitled “Mythos Mosel.” The name, and the event itself, attest to the enduring power the Mosel holds in the imagination of the wine-drinking…...
Returning Historic Varieties to Germany’s Vineyards
This is a story for the wine romantics among us who dream of bygone varieties, who hunker down to listen to the old stone terraces telling stories of yesteryear, of those with a weak spot for growers and wines committed to character. It is in this world of nostalgia and nerds that this story is set. Enter Ulrich “Uli” Martin, a viticulturist from Gundheim in Rheinhessen. “Such a reliable companion!” he says. “Honest, direct, and amiable. You sense it immediately.” This high praise, however, is not aimed at his best friend, at least not in the traditional sense. Rather, at a grape…...