Mosel () is one of 13 German wine regions (Weinbaugebiete) for quality wines (Qualitätswein, formerly QbA and Prädikatswein), and takes its name from the Mosel River (; Luxembourgish: Musel). Before 1 August 2007 the region was called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, but changed to a name that was considered more consumer-friendly.The wine-growing region Mosel-Saar-Ruwer had been renamed Mosel on 1 August 2007. .Winetourism, May 5, 2022: Mosel-Saar-Ruwer shortens name to Mosel. The wine region is Germany's third largest in terms of production but some consider it the leading region in terms of international prestige.J. Robinson Jancis Robinson's Wine Course Third Edition, pp. 264-265. Abbeville Press 2003 .
The region covers the valleys of the rivers Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer from near the mouth of the Mosel at Koblenz and upstream to the vicinity of Trier in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The area is known for the steep slopes of the region's vineyards overlooking the river. At 65° degrees incline, the steepest recorded vineyard in the world is the Calmont vineyard located on the Mosel and belonging to the village of Bremm, and therefore referred to as Bremmer Calmont.Der Bremmer Calmont.K. MacNeil The Wine Bible, pp. 532-535. Workman Publishing 2001 . The Mosel is mainly famous for its wines made from the Riesling grape, but Elbling and Müller-Thurgau also contribute to the production, among others.
Since the mid 1990's, red wine production, especially from the Spätburgunder (Pinot noir), had increased in the Mosel and throughout the German wine-growing regions, becoming of increasing interest to the international wine community.Joel B. Payne, ed., Gault und Millau WeinGuide Deutschland 2015; Munich: Christian Verlag, , p. 88. Because of the northerly location of the Mosel, the Riesling wines are often light, tending to lower alcohol, crisp and high in acidity, and often exhibit "flowery" rather than or in addition to "fruity" aromas. Its most common vineyard soil is derived in the main from various kinds of slate deposits, which tend to give the wines a transparent, mineralic aspect, that often exhibit great depth of flavor.Braatz. Dieter et al; Wine Atlas of Germany; Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014, , pp. 43-45. In the current era of climate change much work has been done to improve and gain acceptance for completely dry ("Trocken") Rieslings in this region, so that most of the more famous makers have found acceptance for such wines, particularly in Europe.Pigott, Stuart et al., Wein Spricht Deutsch, Frankfurt: Scherz (part of S. Fischer Verlag), 2007, pp. 419, 442, passim.
History
It is believed that viticulture was brought to this area by the Romans who planted vineyards along the Mosel and the Rhine in order to have a local source of wine for their garrisons. The cost of transporting wine up from the Italian Peninsula or across the Vosges Mountains and the Roman vineyards in Gaul was very high and impractical. The Romans considered creating a canal between the Saône and the Rhine before ultimately deciding to plant vines in the area. Trier (founded 16 BC) was a major Roman outpost and it is likely that the first Mosel vineyards were planted in the surrounding hillsides sometime in the 2nd century. Viticulture was certainly flourishing in the area by the 4th century when the Roman poet Ausonius wrote a poem about the beauty of the land at harvest time.H. Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine pp. 87–95, Simon and Schuster 1989 .
The Mosel wine of the Roman period was described as light bodied and "austere". It was said to be an easier drinking wine than that of other Roman areas. In the winter time, the wine was heated in a kettle and drunk like a tea (a practice that still has some tradition among modern vineyard workers who drink it like coffee, often with a little sugar added). In warmer vintages the wine was noticeably more fruity and sweet. This was because the warmth allowed the grapes to more fully ripen and develop more sugars. During the cold autumn the fermentation process would not be fully complete because of the low temperature, thus leaving the wine with high levels of residual sugars.H. Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine, pp. 113–118. Simon and Schuster 1989 .
In the Middle Ages, villages sprung up that were centered on the region's wine industry. These "wine villages", known as "Winzerdörfer", included paths from the town center up to the area's vineyards. At the center was a community wine cellar where all the area's growers could store their wines. Probably most well known among the Winzerdörfer was the village of Bernkastel which was granted town rights in 1291. In 1435 when Count Johann IV of Katzenelnbogen planted Rieslinghttp://www.graf-von-katzenelnbogen.de/ The Mosel, the Counts of Katzenelnbogen and the First Riesling of the World. in the nearby town of Rüsselsheim the first time he owned vineyards in Winningen like the Destil, in Burgen and Kochem one half of the city and many vineyards more along the Mosel. In order to create more suitable land for vineyards, vineyard owners in the 16th century used explosives to break up the vertical spurs of rock along the rivers.J. Robinson (ed) "The Oxford Companion to Wine" Third Edition, pp. 456–458, Oxford University Press 2006 .
Towards the end of the 17th century, the Kunda began to be identified more with wine made from the Riesling grape. The St. Maximin's Abbey in Trier owned 74 vineyards and by 1695 had over 100,000 Riesling vines. Today the vineyard of Maximin Grünhaus is considered one of the best Riesling vineyards in all of Germany. In the 18th century, the Prince-elector of Trier, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, mandated that over a seven-year period every vine in the Mosel area was to be Riesling only. The rise of the House of Hanover in Great Britain saw a period of increase exportation of "moselle wine" to England. However, the wine's high price kept the wines mostly in the hands of the Royal court and English nobility rather than replacing claret in the village taverns.H. Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine, pp. 288–296, Simon and Schuster 1989 .
The 19th century saw an unprecedented era of prosperity for the Mosel wine industry under the rule of Prussia starting with the historic vintage of 1819. For the rest of the 1820s, there was a succession of outstanding weather and sterling wines produced. To promote the region's wine, the Prussian government lowered the tariffs for the import of Mosel wines to other regions of the Prussian kingdom. The development of the Zollverein customs union even further benefited the Mosel by reducing the customs on their wines traveling to other regions of the German Confederation. A string of bad weather vintages in the late 1830s and early 1840s would dampen the extent of prosperity that the Mosel would see.H. Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine pp. 388–396, Simon and Schuster 1989 .
By the 1850s, wine-makers in the Mosel had discovered the benefits of chaptalization in helping to compensate for bad weather vintages and under ripened grapes. Another significant boom came a couple decades later when the British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone lowered the duties on light wine which opened up the British market to lower cost Mosel wines. This increased prosperity had the net effect of encouraging more quantity in production rather than quality. Many areas that were not ideal for Riesling were soon planted with the easier to grow Müller-Thurgau and other Riesling crossings. In the 20th century, a North American taste for sweet wines saw the prominence of Liebfraumilch and brands like Blue Nun dominate the German import wine market. In recent times, the Mosel (as well as the entire German wine industry) has dedicated itself to reversing the reputation it gained during these years and focus on the quality of the area's dry wines.
Climate and geography
The Mosel wine region has northernly continental climate that is marked by cool temperatures. The best producing vineyard sites are located along the Mosel river and its tributary where the heat from the sun can be maximized by reflection up from the water. South and southwest facing slopes are even more sought after because of the increased exposure to direct sunlight that can aid in ripening of the grapes.C. Fallis, editor The Encyclopedic Atlas of Wine pp. 258-259, Global Book Publishing 2006 . The soil of the area is dominated by porous slate which has ideal drainage for the regions heavy rainfall and good heat retaining properties. Many of the best vineyards have no topsoil at all, just broken slate. During the summer months the weather is warm but rarely hot with July's average temperatures around .
The Mosel river dominates the geography of the region which is typically divided into three main sections. The Upper Mosel is the southernmost section located closest to the river's origins along the French and Luxembourg border. The region includes the Saar and Ruwer river tributaries and is centered on the city of Trier. The Middle Mosel or Mittelmosel is the main wine growing region and includes the villages of Bernkastel and Piesport. The Middle Mosel begins at the village of Zell and extends south to just north of the village of Schweich. The slate-based soil here is said to have one of the most recognizable terroir with the wines, especially Riesling, displaying slatey mineral notes. The Lower Mosel includes the region south of the city of Koblenz to the village of Alf near Zell. It is the most northern wine region of the Mosel and includes the area's confluence with the Rhine river.
Viticulture
The steep river bank slopes that are scattered around the Mosel region are considered some of the most labor-intensive vineyards in the world. Mechanical harvesting is impractical and nearly seven times more man hours are needed in the Mosel than in flatter terrain such as the Médoc. Grapevines are individually staked to the ground without connecting wires so that vineyard workers can tend the plants going horizontally across the vineyard rather than vertically, which would be more treacherous and tiring. Safety is a priority for many Mosel vineyard owners with the area having a documented history of fatalities among workers while tending the vines. A benefit of the steep Mosel vineyards is that the incline allows for more direct sunlight to have contact with the vines. During the winter, rain often causes some soil erosion, especially of the vital slate chips that are needed for their heat retaining properties. Many vineyards will gather these eroded sediments and carry them back up the hillside.
The Riesling grape, grown on 59.7% of the region's cultivated vineyard surface in 2008,German Wine Institute: German wine statistics 2009/2010 is widely considered the most prestigious and highest quality wine grape of the Mosel but it cannot be planted on every vineyard site due to difficulties the grape has in ripening in particularly cool climates. Factors such as altitude, aspect and sunlight exposure can have a pronounced effect not only on the resulting quality of the wine but also whether the Riesling grape will even ripen at all. A positive characteristic of the Riesling grape is that despite less than perfect ripeness it can still create a wine of finesse and elegance that would escape most other grape varieties.