The Steepest Vineyards of the World: Mosel

The Steepest Vineyards of the World: Mosel

The steepest vineyards of the world are located in the Mosel region of Germany. The vineyards along the banks of the River Mosel and its tributaries Saar and Ruwer fall under this third biggest vine growing region of Germany. The river Mosel originates in France and flows into Germany and creates winding river gorge of 150 miles.

Bremmer Calmont area is known for the world’s steepest slopes at 65 degrees’ incline. These steep slopes are home to the Calmont vineyard overlooking the river Mosel in the village of Bremm.

Vineyards could only be an economically thriving business on these steepest slopes. Fine wines come from this region with equal challenges. These are the most labour intensive vineyards, the vines are trained often, the incline of even 30 degrees is tiring for the vineyard workers.

The star grape variety in the region is Riesling with other grapes like Elbling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Kerner and Auxerrois. Müller-Thurgau is planted in the flat area near Mosel. The Riesling is planted often on the sunniest south and south-west facing sites steep and close to the river which acts as a mirror to reflect light and the porous slate soils are able to drain excess rainwater and retain daytime heat for the cold nights.

Mosel Riesling is produced in bone-dry to sweet style. It is a distinctive wine with straw colour to deep yellow with age. Young Riesling has aromas of lime, honeydew and mineral hints on the nose and with age, it has high-intensity aromas of honey, apricot, petrol. On the palate, it has high acidity with slight levels of sweetness and flavours of lime, minerals, to pear, honey, apricot in aged wines. The alcohol by volume in a Riesling will be 7 to 11.5% ABV.