The Mosel
The Moselle River (Mosel in German) begins in the Vosges Mountains of northeast France and flows north through Lorraine to Germany. Here, at the village of Perl, in the tri-border region of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, is the beginning of the famous wine appellation of the Mosel (formerly Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) and its nearly 9,000 hectares of vineyards. It continues for close to 245 kilometers of countless curves and meanderings, which sometimes create spectacular expositions for growing grapes, until it empties, at Koblenz, into the Rhine. Along the way, almost none of the closely grouped villages, often separated by only one or two kilometers, are without wine, making it among the longest continuous winegrowing regions in the world.
The most famous and greatest part of the Mosel runs from Trier through a narrow winding valley in the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge (Rhenish Slate Range) to Koblenz. On the right bank of the Mosel rise the Hunsrück Hills and on the left bank the rugged hill country known as the Eifel. The slate that comprises the innumerable steep slopes of the vineyards of the Mosel and its two main tributaries, the Saar and Ruwer, comes almost exclusively from the Devonian Period (hence Devonian slate). All stony, arid slate soils, whether gray, blue, or red, are more or less ideal for vineyards (and, it must be said, for little else), because they retain heat (the stonier the better), have excellent drainage, and provide minerals and nutrients for the vines. Since most slopes on the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer contain slate, the differences among sites (leaving aside, for the moment, factors such as exposition, drainage, and temperature) are less pronounced than in other regions that have greater variation among soil types. In principle, where there is slate and Riesling the potential exists for great Mosel wines.
Besides the subtle nuances between the largely similar slate soils, differences in micro-climate often play an important role among the sites of the Mosel. Steepness and elevation can produce enormous fluctuations in quality, with differences in the former ranging from relatively modest slopes all the way up to extremely steep inclines of more than 100 percent (45°), with those above 80 percent requiring terraces. From the foot of a given slope to its summit, there can be elevation differences of over 200 meters. Traditionally, the steep south- to southwest-facing sites have been considered to be without peer, and, indeed, they offer the potential for great wine. But it is equally true that so-called “lesser sites”—those higher up, in side valleys, or with more westerly, easterly or even northerly expositions—often can yield, in the very best vintages, superior wines. This is occurring more readily with climate change. Whatever the exposition or the elevation, there is no doubt that the best sites can offer completely different wines from one year to the next.
Soils and Subregions
The attempt to define the subregions of the Mosel more clearly in the following paragraphs is not at all meant to imply that certain sections have either firm or official boundaries. Indeed, demarcation of the subregions is a subjective process and can vary as a result of politics, tradition, geological interpretation, or climate.
For some the border between the Lower and Middle Mosel can be found just downstream from Zell, in Bullay, for example, while for others it lies definitively upstream from Zell, almost to Traben-Trarbach. Both the Saar and Upper Mosel (Obermosel), on the other hand, are legally defined and are allowed to put the region’s name on the label (albeit in smaller print). Ruwer wines will soon be allowed the same privilege (delayed until now because a village of the same name has had exclusive rights to its use), but whatever the subregion, its appearance on the label will remain secondary to the term “Mosel.” This is different from Bordeaux, for example, where Margaux or Pauillac do not need to have “Bordeaux” on the label.
Lower Mosel (Untermosel, also called Terrassenmosel)
The river’s most northerly region (lower in elevation than the Upper Mosel or the Saar), often defined as stretching from Zell to Koblenz, has approximately 1,400 hectares of vines planted predominantly on extremely steep, terraced sites among cliffs that make the Mosel look in some places like a canyon. The climate is hotter and drier than elsewhere on the Mosel. The soil consists mostly of gray, blue, and red slate but also has other harder slate-like stones such as quartzite and sandstone. In addition to the already justly celebrated growers and vineyards in the area, plenty of underappreciated sites and less well-known growers await discovery.
Middle Mosel (Mittelmosel)
The center—physically and quantitatively if not always qualitatively—of winegrowing in the Mosel Valley is the Middle Mosel, planted with nearly 6,000 hectares of vines from just north of Trier to (roughly) the village of Briedel. The world-famous vineyards found here consist primarily of gray and blue slate, though some villages also have deeper iron-rich soils with red slate. The quality and importance of many villages’ steep sites is unimpeachable: Zeltingen, Wehlen, Graach, Bernkastel, Brauneberg, and Piesport are among the greatest. Less impressively, the largest portion of the Mosel’s flat vineyard land, often with no slate, comes from this area, too. Good knowledge of the intricacies of the vineyard sites is therefore paramount. The best sites of the Middle Mosel tend to have higher ripeness and lower acid levels than the Saar and Ruwer, but higher acid than the Lower Mosel.
Ruwer
The small and narrow Ruwer Valley, like the Saar, cuts through the Hunsrück Hills. It is effectively a stream, and the 190 hectares planted almost exclusively to Riesling extend from the village of Waldrach to Trier-Ruwer. The wines have a unique filigree style with fine acidity and possess, especially in hot years, a delicacy that can sometimes outclass the Saar as well as the Mosel. The soils are also mainly gray and blue slate, and sometimes red-slate iron-rich soils.
Saar
This is the main tributary of the Mosel, which also rises from the Vosges near Alsace and runs through the former industrial Saarland before winding its way through the Hunsrück in Rhineland-Palatinate. About 750 hectares of vines extend from Serrig to Konz on predominantly steep sites with blue, gray, and red slate along with pockets of harder quartzite and sandstone (no graywacke here nor on the Lower Mosel). The idyllic Saar Valley, with its rolling hills and pastures, is windier and cooler than the Mosel and receives higher annual rainfall. Some of the best vineyards, such as Scharzhofberg or Ayler Kupp (the original slope), are tucked away from the river in side valleys. The wines can display distinctive finesse, brisk acidity, and great minerality.
Upper Mosel (Obermosel)
The most southern section of the river includes 790 hectares of vines that stretch from the village of Perl (bordering France) to the town of Konz, where the Saar flows into the Mosel River. These vineyards form the natural border between Germany and Luxembourg: the right bank is known as the Upper Mosel and the left bank is Luxembourg wine country. The soil consists mainly of clay, shell limestone, and chalk and belongs to the geological region known as the Paris Basin, which also includes Burgundy and Champagne. In addition to the main grape, Elbling, Burgundian grapes (Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Auxerrois, and Chardonnay) are also planted, usually on steep-sloping sites.
