The wine-growing region is situated in Rhineland-Palatinate and, to a small extent, in the Saarland in Germany. The River Moselle winds its way from Trier to Koblenz over a distance of 237 km, although the distance as the crow flies is only 96 km. The vineyards cover 8,798 hectares of vineyard area, stretching along the Moselle from its source in the Vosges mountains on the border with Luxembourg to its confluence with the Rhine near Koblenz, as well as along its two tributaries, the Saar and the Ruwer. These three rivers gave the wine-growing region its former name, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, which was in use until 2007.

The picture shows a view from the ‘ single vineyard ’ in Calmont over the Moselle towards the village of Bremm (Cochem Castle).

Germany’s oldest vineyards

Germany’s oldest vineyards are situated on the Upper Moselle; the Romans were already cultivating vines here as early as the 1st century BC and founded the city of Augusta Treverorum – now known as Trier – in 15 BC. In Piesport and Erden, the remains of ancient Roman wine presses can still be seen. The Neumagen wine ship also bears witness to Roman wine culture. The two Roman poets Ausonius (310–395) and Venantius Fortunatus (530–610) described the beauty of the landscape whilst on boat trips along the Moselle. In the Middle Ages, the Benedictine Order owned many vineyards along the banks of the three rivers, as evidenced by the names of many individual vineyard sites. 

Partition under Napoleon

Following the occupation of this region in 1807, the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) enacted a law whose negative repercussions are still felt today. To prevent the formation of large estates, he ordered ‘realteilung’ (division of land), whereby, upon inheritance, the land had to be divided equally amongst all descendants. The result was a fragmentation into countless, often extremely small plots. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the former Electorate of Trier was assigned to the Prussian state.

Prussian vineyard classification

Subsequently, the royal government introduced various measures to improve the economic situation of Moselle winegrowers. These included the Prussian vineyard classification, the founding of the winegrowers’ association, and the establishment of three state-owned vineyards on the Moselle and Saar, which ushered in a golden age for Moselle viticulture. This continued the tradition of King Frederick the Great (1712–1786), a great wine lover, who had a vineyard laid out as early as 1769 on the southern slope of the Klausberg in Sanssouci Park in Potsdam.

Climate & Soil

The wine-growing region is one of the warmer climatic zones in Germany. Like all bodies of water, the Moselle has a positive effect and creates the conditions for this through the formation of valley slopes. Viticulture benefits from the ideal combination of steep, sun-drenched slopes, slate soils that reflect the sun’s rays, and optimal rainfall levels. On some steep slopes, cultivation is only possible using specialised equipment and monorail systems. Calmont, with a gradient of up to 68°, is one of the steepest vineyards in the world. 

There are only slight temperature fluctuations. The climate is characterised by pleasantly warm summers and only moderately cold winters with hardly any frosts. The soils consist of shell limestone and Keuper in the Upper Moselle, and of Devonian and dark clay slate – the latter being found in half of the vineyards – in the Middle and Lower Moselle and in the valleys of the Saar and Ruwer. The slate rock stores the sun’s heat during the day and releases it again at night, ensuring a mild climate. The vines generally have roots extending metres deep into the soil or rock.

Regions, municipalities and vineyard sites

Many small winegrowers cultivate the often terraced steep slopes by painstaking manual labour and supply their grapes to large wineries. The Mosel is divided into six regions comprising 19 major vineyards and 524 individual vineyard sites. The 242-kilometre-long Moselle Wine Route begins just beyond the German-French border in Perl, runs alongside the river and crosses it several times along the way. It passes through many famous wine-growing municipalities and ends in Koblenz.

German wine legislation permits the region’s name to be stated on the label without the suffix ‘Bereich’, provided there are no place names or single-vineyard designations that could lead to confusion. Winegrowers from the ‘Saar’ region had already been doing this since the name change, but this was not possible for those on the ‘Ruwer’. In 2019, vineyards in the Trier-Ruwer district that were no longer in production and included the name element ‘Ruwer’ were removed from the vineyard register, thereby allowing the name to be used on the label. 

Bernkastel (Middle Moselle)

The area Bernkastel or the Middle Mosel (formerly the Lower Mosel) forms the heart of the region and is home to the largest number of vineyards. It stretches from Briedel in the north, upstream, to the Mosel metropolis of Trier in the south, covering a distance of around 50 kilometres. The Moselle flows through the area in ten relatively tight bends. This large region comprises just under 6,000 hectares of vineyards and is divided into the ten major vineyard sites: Badstube, Kurfürstlay, Michelsberg, Münzlay, Nacktarsch, Schwarzlay, St. Michael, Probstberg, Römerlay and Vom heißen Stein.

This is where the best-known Moselle villages and vineyards are located. Among the most famous single vineyards in the region – and indeed in Germany – is Bernkasteler Doctor. It forms part of the renowned ‘ Großlage ’ Badstube, which (unusually) comprises exclusively first-class vineyards. For the most part, the deep soils consist of dark blue weathered Devonian slate, often with a high stone content; in the municipality of Ürzig, there is also Rotliegendes (red sandstone). The best-known wine-growing villages and their single vineyards:

• Avelsbach: Altenberg, Hammerstein, Herrenberg, Kupp, Rotlei
• Bernkastel: Alte Badstube am Doctorberg, Badstube (comprising Bratenhöfchen and Matheisbildchen), Doctor, Graben, Johannisbrünnchen, Kardinalsberg, Lay, Rosenberg, Schlossberg, Stephanus-Rosengärtchen, Weisenstein
• Brauneberg: Juffer, Juffer Sonnenuhr, Kammer, Klostergarten, Mandelgraben
• Briedel: Herzchen, Nonnengarten, Schäferlay, Schelm, Weisserberg
• Burgen: Bischofstein, Hasenläufer, Kirchberg, Römerberg
• Detzem: Maximiner Klosterlay, Würzgarten
• Enkirch: Batterieberg, Edelberg, Ellergrub, Herrenberg, Monteneubel, Steffensberg, Weinkammer, Zeppwingert
• Erden: Bußlay, Herrenberg, Prälat, Treppchen (Herzlei)
• Graach: Abtsberg, Domprobst, Himmelreich, Josephshöfer
• Kesten: Herrenberg, Paulinsberg, Paulinshofberger
• Kinheim: Hubertuslay, Römerhang, Rosenberg
• Klotten: Brauneberg, Burg Coreidelsteiner, Rosenberg
• Klüsserath: Bruderschaft
• Köwerich: Held, Laurentiuslay
• Kröv: Burglay, Herrenberg, Kirchlay, Letterlay, Paradies, Steffensberg
• Leiwen: Klostergarten, Laurentiuslay
• Lieser: Niederberg-Helden, Rosenlay, Schlossberg, Süßenberg
• Longuich: Herrenberg, Hirschlay, Maximiner Herrenberg
• Lösnich: Burgberg, Försterlay
• Maring-Noviand: Honigberg, Klosterberg, Lambertuslay, Römerpfad, Sonnenuhr
• Mehring: Blattenberg (including the cadastral area of Layet), Goldkupp, Zellerberg
• Mülheim: Amtgarten, Elisenberg, Helenenkloster, Sonnenlay
• Neumagen-Drohn: Engelgrube, Großer Hengelberg, Häs’chen, Hofberger, Laudamusberg, Nußwingert, Rosengärtchen, Sonnenuhr
• Piesport: Domherr, Falkenberg, Gärtchen, Goldtröpfchen, Grafenberg, Günterslay, Hofberger, Kreuzwingert, Schubertslay, Treppchen
• Pölich: Held
• Pünderich: Goldlay, Marienburg, Nonnengarten, Rosenberg
• Reil: Falklay, Goldlay, Mullay-Hofberg, Sorentberg
• Thörnich: Enggaß, Ritsch, Schießlay
• Treis: Greth, Kapellenberg, Treppchen
• Trier: Altenberg, Andreasberg, Augenscheiner, Benediktinerberg, Burgberg, Deutschherrenberg, Deutschherrenköpfchen, Herrenberg, Jesuitenwingert, Kupp, Kurfürstenhofberg, Rotlei, St. Martiner Hofberg, St. Martiner Klosterberg, St. Matheiser, St. Maximiner Kreuzberg, St. Petrusberg, Thiergarten Felsköpfchen, Thiergarten Unterm Kreuz
• Traben-Trarbach: Burgberg, Gaispfad, Goldgrube, Hühnerberg, Klosterberg, Königsberg, Kräuterhaus, Kreuzberg, Schatzgarten, Schlossberg, Sonnenlay, Taubenhaus, Ungsberg, Würzgarten, Zollturm
• Trittenheim: Altärchen, Apotheke, Felsenkopf, Leiterchen
• Ürzig: Goldwingert, Würzgarten (Kranklei, Sonnenuhr)
• Veldenz: Carlsberg, Elisenberg, Grafschafter Sonnenberg, Kirchberg, Mühlberg
• Wehlen: Abtei, Hofberg, Klosterberg, Nonnenberg, Rosenberg, Sonnenuhr
• Wintrich: Geierslay, Großer Herrgott, Ohligsberg, Stefanslay
• Wittlich: Bottchen, Felsentreppchen, Klosterweg, Kupp, Lay, Portnersberg, Rosenberg
• Wolf: Auf der Heide, Goldgrube, Schatzgarten, Sonnenlay, Klosterberg
• Zeltingen: Deutschherrenberg, Himmelreich, Schlossberg, Sonnenuhr

Cochem Castle (Terraced Moselle)

The Cochem Castle area (formerly Zell) is also known as the Terraced...