Wines of Mosel

If you like German Riesling then the four regions of Middle and Lower Mosel, Saar and Ruwer along the Mosel River system is your wine Mecca. The great thing about Mosel (formerly called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) is that each of the regions is slightly different climatically, which ensures an excellent yield from at least one region each year and experts say an ‘elegant variety’ is produced. Villages of the Middle Mosel like Graach, Wehlen and Urzig are responsible for some of the worlds best Rieslings, as are the estates of Maximin and Karthauserhof located beside the Ruwer River. Mosel doesn’t have the calm vista of patchwork vineyards of some of the wine regions on this list, the river system spreads out in numerous tributaries and is set deeply into the hills and vines are grown in steep tiers that look like they could crumble into the waters at any moment. It’s beautiful castles and ruins and dense pockets of forest coupled with temperatures running to extremes at both ends of the scale make this a dramatic rather than serene landscape. If you visit during harvest season you’ll be surprised at the death defying feats performed by the seasoned harvesters as they seem to almost cling to the vines themselves to stop from falling off the steep rows of ledges. The best vineyards (and corresponding cellars to visit) are usually the southern facing ones on the tops of the hills. The mineral flavour to Mosel wine is put down to the slate in the soil, so expect some dryer more complex Rieslings than the supermarket variety.