WEINGUT CARL LOEWEN

The estate

The wine world has started changing. Now filigree light wines with pronounced fruit are suddenly en vogue. These wines correspond to my ideal of Mosel riesling: a wine with playful elegance and beguiling aromas. It is just a joy to drink such wines. But it is also a joy for me to produce them!
The roots of our estate go back to a time of historical change. Napoleon made the Mosel region a French département and started fundamentally changing the medieval property structure. With the Code Napoléon modern law was introduced to the Mosel and through secularization the large holdings of the Church and the monasteries were broken up and came into private ownership.
Back then the Benedictine abbey of St. Maximin in Trier was the leading wine producer on the Mosel. The last administrator of the abbey’s estate in Detzem was one of our ancestors. During the secularization in 1803 he became the owner of vineyards in the Maximiner Klosterlay site of Detzem from the abbey in Trier, thus laying the foundation of our estate.
An important step in its development was purchasing vineyards in the Laurentiuslay site from the Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt estate in Trier in 1982. The Laurentiuslay is unquestionably one of our showpieces. In 1995 we purchased a vineyard in the Ritsch site in Thörnich, also a class 1 site. These are the jewels in our Riesling crown.
It is with pride that we look at our holdings which now encompass 8,5 hectares of which 93% are planted with Riesling. Small areas of Pinot Blanc and Rivaner complete the picture. Looking after our vineyards carefully plays a central role for us. We tend each vine by hand almost twenty times per year in order to create optimum growing conditions, which in turn reward us with the best possible grapes.
The philosophy behind our work is based on the time-tested methods of the Mosel. Almost all of the class1 vineyards are trained in the traditional way which dates back to the Roman period, each vine being trained on its own individual pole.
We renounce any mineral fertilization on our weathered Devonian slate soils.
Nutriments are provided entirely through balanced organic fertilization.
Through our policy of minimal fertilization yields are naturally kept at a low level. In this way the clusters are composed of small berries which, when fully mature, have wonderful aromas. We categorically refuse yield reduction through green harvesting. Our cultivation method makes it unnecessary !
The grapes are vinified in a manner that has not changed in centuries: there is no mechanical movement of the grapes, instead they fall into the press by gravity. Then follows the fermentation of the must with the wild yeast from the vineyard. The wines then stay on their lees until bottling. This results in Riesling wines with a wonderful elegance and great aromatic complexity. After bottling they are stored under optimum conditions in our cellars until delivery.



The terroir

The terroir of the great vineyard sites on the Mosel is characterized by slate soils formed during the Devonian period, more than 200 million years ago. This sedimentary rock releases minerals through weathering and these minerals influence the development of the Riesling grape’s aroma and taste in a profound way.
The soil of our vineyards is either grey or blue slate. Grey slate is a rock that weathers very easily giving soils with a high content of clay-like fine material and at high maturity levels produce substantial, dense wines with a wealth of exotic aromas recalling peaches, apricots , mangos.
Blue slate is a much harder rock; there is much less fine laterial to be found in these soils and more stones, which means they tend to be drier. But if water-bearing layers run through vineyards with this type of soil, then wines of gorgeous mineral structure can result whose aromas are characterized by citrus fruit.
Clos to the banks of the Mosel you also come across some areas with gravel soils, sometimes overlayered by up to two metres of weathered slate which came down into the valley soil through erosion. The wines from these soils show notes which range from ripe apples to peaches and apricots.



The vineyard sites

Leiwener Laurentiuslay class 1 site
This vineyard certainly is one of the Mosel’s shooting stars. Until a few years ago it was known only among insiders, whereas today the Laurentiuslay wines enjoy an excellent international reputation. Already in the Prussian classification of the Mosel vineyard sites of 1868 the great class of this site is recognised. In the classification of Pigott and Johnson the Laurentiuslay is rated a class1 site.
What a stroke of luck that vineyard reorganization, which would have forced the landowners to replant, was too expensive a project in this steep vineyard. So the site still shows us its original face with numerous small dry stone walls and vineyard terraces. Grey slate determines the wines’ character. The natural water provision has not been disturbed through newly built roadways and even at the peak of the driest summers there is enough humidity. In the almost mediterranean climate heat-loving plants and animals prosper. When the sun is out one can watch countless lizards on the warm slate rocks.

Thörnicher Ritsch class 1 site
Until after the Second World War the Ritsch site of Thörnich belonged to the most highly regarded vineyards on the Mosel. Its name derives from the brittle grey slate, which continually crumbles and slides down the hillside. That is also the reason why the site could not be reorganized and no new roadways could be built. We acquired our vineyard in the Ritsch only in 1995. The vines are growing on the slope up into the small terraces. This site has also been been classified in 1868 and by Pigott and Johnson as a class 1 site. Ritsch wines stand out for their enormous fruit aromas and mineral structure. Citrus, lychee and passion fruit can be found.

Detzemer Maximiner Klosterlay class 1 site
In Medieval times the Benedictine abbey St Maximin in Trier was the leading wine estate on the Mosel. The monks had holdings in many of the best vineyard sites, amongst others in the Maximiner Klosterlay of Detzem. In the course of the secularisation under Napoleon these holdings were sold and one of our ancestors bought some vineyards in this site; they were the foundation of our estate. The soil of this vineyard is composed of blue slate and deep down in the bedrock there is a good reservoir of water. Even in times of great drought the vines here show no signs of stress. 
The Mosel Valley is open towards the west so that the afternoon sun can reach the vines here without hindrance, the large water area behind one of the locks in the canalized Mosel at the vineyard’s foot provides both a heat reservoir and a surface which reflects sunlight into it. The wines show enormous length and mineral structure, are elegant and have a wealth of aromas.

Leiwener Klostergarten
The Klostergarten of Leiwen offers a wide range of different soil types. Here one can find blue slate, grey slate and also soils where the gravel sub-soil is covered with a layer of weathered slate, brought down from the surrounding hills by erosion. Accordingly the wines from here are very diverse in aroma.
In the steep slope of the Klostergarten ripen the grapes for our ‚Blauschiefer’. In the vineyards where grey slate dominates and the slope goes up to 25 % the vines with the selection for the ‚Varidor’ are growing. The more than 40 years old vines which yield the ‚Alte Reben’ are also in the Klostergarten. The slate soils at the foot of the slope are especially well suited for light Kabinett wines. In a part of the Klostergarten towards the Apotheke site of Trittenheim lies a terroir whose microclimate is ideal for the production of ice wine on a steep slope; a rarity !



The wines

Riesling trocken
A litre bottle with a new shape ! It is fun to grab a bottle of this fresh Riesling and just enjoy it. The new design and the refreshing, fruit-driven wine make for a great experience. The grapes for this estate bottling are harvested at the beginning of November in order to get fully mature fruit aromas. Even for this wine the grapes are tipped into the press by gravity and pressed pneumaticaly at low pressure. The fermentation takes place with natural yeasts at low temperatures. The result is a delightful, fruit-driven Riesling wine that goes very well with light dishes and is easy to enjoy.

Blauschiefer trocken
For many years the estate has owned an old vineyard with Rivaner vines planted on a steep slope which has a very mineraly slate soil. Although Rivaner does not have the great potential for quality wines as Riesling, I developed the ambition to produce a light and refreshing wine from these grapes. During tastings in the cellar I noticed that Riesling from a steep slope with a very rocky slate soil which we call ‚Blauschiefer’ complemented the Rivaner very well.
Because the slate soil determines the wine’s character even more than the grape varieties it is simply called: ‚Blauschiefer’. The Riesling’s raciness and subtle fruit provide the wine’s body, the Rivaner’s delicate acidity and muscat notes add suppleness and elegance. The wine radiates lightness and elegance; just the right thing !

Riesling Quant
With a long maturation on the vine the Riesling grapes gain a whole fan of aromas like a peacock’s tail. Very often at our estate Riesling is only picked in November so that the aromas have enough time to develop fully . In late autumn temperatures are low, cool fog alternates with warm autumn sun; conditions which enable the grapes to retain this great wealth of aroma. 
After pressing, the must from the fully mature grapes comes into the cold cellar and the wild yeast fermentation we practice is very slow. Once again, these are ideal conditions for the retention of the grape’s aromatic riches ! With this vinification method many wines retain a small amount of natural grape sweetness, which is hardly noticeable on the palate. These wines show a wonderful harmony yet taste dry.
I like this type of wines very much. In my Mosel dialect we have an expression which perfectly fits the taste experience of this wine: quant. We use this word to describe something where everything seems to fit: a good meal, a nice evening with friends, in short anything which feels good is quant! Riesling Quant goes with a light, fresh cuisine, asparagus, or just by itself.

Riesling Varidor
A small yield and small, healthy berries are the basis for Riesling’s intense fruit aromas. We try to achieve this goal with the Varidor in a traditional and natural way. For half a century the vines’ productivity, that is the yield of grapes in weight, has been maximised through clonal selection. With Varidor we try a very different way to achieve the natural wealth of Riesling aromas, instead of pursuing the goal of large yields. In vineyards up to 100 years old, in cooperation with the Staatliche Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt in Trier, we selected some hundreds of vines that stood out at the point of full maturity in autumn because of their golden yellow berries. We took plant material from these vines and established a new vineyard at our estate. 
Because it is planted with vines whose genetic material is older than clonal selection, the Varidor vineyard gives very low yields like those of Riesling vineyards at the beginning of the 20th century. A natural wealth of aromas in the grapes is the positive side of the equation. The slow, cool fermentation takes place with wild yeasts and the wine matures in the traditional Mosel Fuder barrels of neutral oak. Be inspired by the elegant and subtle fruit aromas of this dry Riesling !

Riesling Alte Reben
At our estate we cultivate some vineyards of almost biblical age. These vineyards were planted in the traditional dense way with almost 10,000 vines to the hectare, each vine trained on its own individual pole. The Riesling vines here show an extraordinary vitality, their roots having grown deep down into the soil, so that even in a dry summer the vines never suffer from drought and the grapes mature beautifully. At the same time the calm which comes with age – following the vines’ youth of stormy growth –
leads to clusters which stay small and mature fully in autumn to golden yellowness.
For this wine we use only the grapes from vines which are at least 40 years old. Some of the vineyards were planted right after the Second World War. The yields there are modest, but the grapes’ maturity is extraordinary. Fully ripe, golden yellow grape material makes the vintner’s heart beat faster ! The result is a beguiling wine which shows Riesling’s full aroma diversity, a wonderful richness and at the same time dances over the palate with the elegance of a prima ballerina.

Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Kabinett feinherb
Light, fruit-driven wines remain the strength of the Mosel. Nowhere else around the globe are there wines with an alcohol content of 10° that possess fully mature aromas, such playful elegance and a long finish. Put simply, wines which are great fun to drink. Vineyards with very old vines give the grapes an incomparably intense, yet filigree bouquet. Our Kabinett wines are harvested always in old vineyards.
The grapes’ long maturation on to November lends ripe aromas to the wines. Although the wines have little alcohol, the taste is exceptional because of this ripeness and the low yields from old vineyards. We ferment our kabinett wines very slowly, then the wine matures on the lees until bottling. The result is a refreshing, light Riesling with splendid fruit aromas. No wonder, that the well known British wine author Oz Clarke counts German Kabinett wines as among the most underrated wines of the world !



Riesling from class 1 sites, where the terroir decides

Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Alte Reben trocken class 1 site
With the Laurentiuslay, a class 1 site according to the classification of Hugh Johnson and Stuart Pigott, we possess an ancient vineyard, planted before the onset of the phylloxera around the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries ! Back then vines still grew on their own roots which are not phylloxera resistent. Luckily the Laurentiuslay is still a phylloxera free zone today, so that these vines have survived. They are planted so densely that in summer it is difficult in summer to move among them. But it makes sense: the vines are competing with each other, forcing each vine to produces only a very low yield. Each vine carries just a few, small golden-yellow bunches of grapes which can achieve optimum ripenness. A yield of 40 hectolitres per hectare is normal, which means just half a bottle of wine per vine ! However, the aroma potential of these wines is absolutely extraordinary. Again and again I am deeply impressed by their subtle fruit aromas and elegance. It is a joy to drink a substantial wine that is so full and filigree at the same time.

Riesling Detzemer Maximiner Klosterlay Christopher’s Wine class 1 site
The terroir of a great vineyard site determines the wines’ character. The terroir forms the wine, the winemaker’s hand helps Nature’s composition to achieve fruition. One of those exceptional sites is the Maximiner Klosterlay of Detzem. Christopher’s Wine is from this great site. It finishes fermentation on its own and therefore has the balance Mosel Rieslings had until the middle of the 20th century. No chemical fertilization, natural cultivation of the vineyards, yields of 50 hl/ha, picking in November; this year the must was of Auslese quality level. The harvest and pressing follow the centuries-old method: selecting only the healthy, fully mature grapes which reach the press through gravity and are then gently pressed pneumaticaly. The fermentation takes place with wild yeasts and lasts two months, then the wine matures on the lees until bottling. The result is a wine with beguiling elegance and powerful richness in perfect harmony. Christopher’s Wine is imposing and delightful.



Wines with residual sweetness from class 1 sites

Maximiner Riesling Spätlese class 1 site
This late harvested wine is our homage to the former owners of this site, the Benedictine abbey St Maximin in Trier. The grapes from which it is made ripen on the extremely steep slope of the Maximiner Klosterlay in Detzem. Here the wine is marked by the blue slate soil, which means that the aromas are dominated by ripe yellow fruits. Peach, apricots, mango are all to be found in the bouquet of this late harvest, the ripe, mineraly acidity is paired with exotic sweetness. The wine’s lightness is documented by the moderate alcohol content of around 8.5°, the high maturity makes for intensity, length and elegance. Enjoy this classical late harvest.

Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Spätlese class 1 site
A basket full of fruit to savour. Let yourself be seduced by this late harvested Riesling whose aromas are reminiscent of peaches, apricots and mango. The Laurentiuslay of Leiwen is a class 1 site according to the classification of Johnson and Pigott. The Riesling grapes ripen until November and at harvest are golden-yellow and packed with lush exotic fruit aromas. A very slow, cool fermentation with the grapes’ own yeast allows those aromas to unfold. Then the wine matures for a further six weeks on the lees. The fermentation and vinification of this wine takes place in Fuders, the 1000 litre barrels of neutral oak used on the Mosel since Roman times. It is only in very few places on the planet that such a harmony of high maturity, subtle acidity, perfectly balanced sweetness and a basket full of aromas is possible. This wine shows the great strengths of Mosel Riesling: delicate elegance and lightness. Let yourself be seduced it !

Thörnicher Ritsch Riesling Spätlese class 1 site
Only in very few great vineyard sites is the Riesling so intensely shaped by the terroir as it is in the Ritsch of Thörnich ! Grey slate stimulates the unfolding of a fruit and mineral structure like a peacock’s tail and leads to a wonderful balance of ripe acidity and fruity sweetness. All the strengths of Mosel Riesling are documented in this wine: lightness, elegance, enormous fruitiness. It floats over the palate. This Riesling bears witness to the cult status that the wines from the Ritsch site enjoyed at the beginning of the 20th century. The American wine critic Robert Parker rated the 2001 and the 2002 vintages each with 90 points!

Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Auslese class 1 site
Our vineyard in the Laurentiuslay starts at the foot of this site and runs right up on to the upper edge. Shortly before harvest those parts with the highest ripeness are identified. According to the weather conditions during the year that could be either the small terraces with the slate walls or the terroir lower down the slope with the deeper devon slate soils. The proportion of botrytised berries varies between 30% and 60 %. Those grapes offer maximum maturity with an ideal composition of enormous fruit concentration and aroma diversity. The wines show a playful elegance, the aromas of peaches, apricots and ripe mangos dance on the tongue, forming an extremely long finish.

Thörnicher Ritsch Riesling Auslese class 1 site
Our vineyard in the Ritsch of Thörnich is marked by a particular whim of nature. At the upper edge of our vineyard, amongst the small slate terraces is a spring. A small rivulet 30 to 50 centimetres wide flows from the slate soil and even in driest and hottest summers does not dry out, nor does it swell during rainy periods. Thus these terraces possess optimum growing conditions for the Riesling vines. The small dry stone terraces store the heat, the spring provides enough humidity and the slate soil guarantees the swift drainage of the water into the subsoil to avoid a cooling effect. The result are super-ripe grapes which are only slightly affected by noble rot and develop fascinating fruit aromas. The mineraly fruitiness dominates the wine and ripe citrus aromas form its backbone.



Our wines in the international press

... estate rated... grapes/stars... each wine is highly enjoyable... Karl Josef Loewen has made good progress with 2003... one of the 20 best German wines of 2001 and 2002... the best 25 botrytised wines of the world... the world’s best wine estates... first inclusion in the world wine guide... Slowfood recommendation: Mosel winegrower Karl Josef Loewen, unwavering maverick... lion-heart Karl Josef Loewen, rating of Germany’s 75 leading winegrowers... Karl Josef Loewen is one of the most brillant shooting stars on MSR... he produces concentrated Riesling wines...


You can find us in Leiwen on the town’s upper edge, near the Klostergarten site. You are welcome anytime. On Saturday afternoons until 4 pm also without prior appointment, from Monday to Friday we would appreciate it if you could call us beforehand.