Mosel Producers

**** | Ruwertal | Eitelsbach | 28-hectares | Transitioning to organic

Karthäuserhof is a 28-hectare wine estate located in the village of Eitelsbach at the final stretch of the Ruwer before it empties into the Mosel. Carthusian monks* founded the estate in 1335 after being granted the land by Prince-Elector Balduin of Luxembourg, and it remained a monastery winery until Napoleon secularized it in 1811. 

Karthäuserhof became a property of the French state following secularization in 1803. It remained in government hands for eight years before being auctioned off in Paris to Valentin Leonardy, General Manager of the French Army, in 1811. Through marriage and inheritance, the estate passed to the Rautenstrauch family, who owned and managed it for 127 years, cementing their name in the winery's official title: Rautenstrauch'sche Weingutsverwaltung Karthäuserhof (Winery Administration Karthäuserhof belonging to the Rautenstrauch family). 

Karl Wilhelm Rautenstrauch, the second generation of Rautenstrauchs, is credited with inventing the estate's iconic neck-only label. As the legend goes, he preferred to cool his wine in the Eitelsbach stream; because the water washed off the traditional body labels, he moved the label to the neck. In 1876, he married Kathinka Mühlens (of the famous "4711" Cologne perfume family), who introduced the brand's signature turquoise color, which still defines the brand today.

Hans Wilhelm Rautenstrauch, the third generation of Rautenstrauchs, managed the estate for over 50 years. He steered the winery through both World Wars and was responsible for several great vintages. Hans Wilhelm's daughter, Maria Rautenstrauch, married Werner Tyrell in 1947, and upon Hans Wilhelm's death in 1951, Werner Tyrell took over the estate.

During Werner Tyrell's time, the 19-hectare monopole Karthäuserhofberg consisted of five separate sites, Kronenberg being the fillet. It is the steepest, most central part of the slope, with iron-rich slate. The Kronenberg is typically the source for the Grosses Gewächs (GG) and top Prädikat wines. The other parcels are:

Burgberg: Located at the lower end of the slope, often providing the foundation and broader fruit for the estate's blends.

Orthsberg: Known for producing wines with intense mineral drive and sharp precision.

Sang: Situated on the edge of the vineyard, it often yields slightly different aromatic profiles due to its specific exposure.

Stirn: Located at the top of the hill where the vines are most exposed to the wind. Because it is cooler, this parcel is famous for maintaining high acidity and producing very "nervy," elegant wines. 

Werner Tyrell's tenure oversaw outstanding vintages in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Tyrell himself held the 1959 vintage in high regard, and the 1971 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Kronenberg feinste Auslese is considered a masterpiece of the Werner Tyrell era. The weather of the 1970s was very uneven, however, and because Prädikat wines must achieve their sugar naturally, no chaptalization is a hard-and-fast rule. Sadly, Tyrell was indicted for wine adulteration, which forced his resignation as President of the Grosser Ring. 

In 1986, Christoph Tyrell, the sixth generation, took over the winery, implementing a "quality first" policy and deciding to use a single label for the entire production. Tyrell expanded dry Riesling from Karthäuserhofberg, 90% of which remains own-rooted, and planted Pinot Blanc on heavier soil at the foot of the hill. He famously removed every third row of vines across several sections of the vineyard, reducing total yield and improving sunlight and air circulation, leading to healthier, riper fruit. 

Tyrell installed Ludwig Breiling as the estate administrator and cellar master and, in the 1980s, moved away from chemical fertilizers and pesticides in favor of horse manure, compost, and pheromone-based pest control. They removed the old wooden Fuder barrels and replaced them with stainless-steel vats to achieve a cleaner, more reductive style. All the changes paid off. Christoph Tyrell was twice awarded Winemaker of the Year, first by Feinschmecker in 1997, and again by Gault Millau in 2005. 

On August 1, 2012, Christoph Tyrell handed over the winery to his first cousin, Albert P. Behler, in an intrafamily transaction. Behler hired Mathieu Kauffmann (the former cellar master of Champagne Bollinger and Von Buhl) as technical director and began restoring historic buildings and shifting toward more sustainable practices. Kauffmann is reintroducing Fuder to the cellar and is, of course, spearheading a Karthäuserhof Sekt program. 

*The Carthusians are a monastic order founded by St. Bruno of Köln in 1084 in the Chartreuse Mountains of France, famously known for developing the herbal liqueur "Chartreuse."

“Altenberg is as steep as the Matterhorn,” Gunter Jauch likes to say, adding that “it’s a 65% grade from the foot to the summit.” Von Othegraven is a leading winery of the Saar producing Riesling exclusively from grand cru sites of Devonian slate soils. Since 2010, the owner is Günther Jauch, the quizmaster, and host of “Wer Wird Millionar?”, the German version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Jauch lives in Berlin with his wife Thea and might be viewed by some as an outsider, but the couple had the inside track when the previous owner, Dr. Heidi Kegel, Jauch’s relative, decided to sell. Günther Jauch, whose grandmother was born a von Othegraven, is now the seventh generation of his family to own the estate. Von Othegraven was a founding member of the Association of German Natural Wine Auctioneers, today’s Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP), and has been producing benchmark Saar wines since the early 19th century. All of Von Othegraven’s vineyards are VDP.Grosse Lage (grand cru). Typical of the Saar, they are incredibly steep, south-facing, and feature Devonian slate intermixed with Rotliegend (iron-infused slate). The signature site of Von Othegraven is the Kanzemer Altenberg, a vineyard you cannot miss when standing in the estate’s charming English garden. “Altenberg is as steep as the Matterhorn,” Jauch likes to say, adding that “it’s a 65% grade from the foot to the summit.” It is also the longest steep slope in Germany at 250 meters long. Steep and south-facing with slate and Rotliegend soil applies to the other grand crus of Wawerner Herrenberger (a Monopol) and Wiltinger Kupp. The vineyard that breaks the mold is the famous Ockfener Bockstein, one of the classic vineyards of the Saar, with silver-grey slate in a south-facing amphitheater. Even Riesling Max, the basic Gutswein Riesling of Von Othegraven, hails from the grand crus Altenberg and Herrenberg. Von Othegraven is one of the rare wineries to produce consistent quality despite several generations of family succession. Max von Othegraven took over the estate in 1921 and made a vintage for the ages that year. More recently, Jauch’s predecessor, Dr. Heidi Kegel, elevated the winery to new heights before turning over winemaking to Andreas Barth, then to the talented Sven Klinger in the summer of 2021. Under Sven’s direction, quality has soared, and Von Othegraven received Vinum Magazine’s German Winemaker of the Year award in 2023. the fermentation is spontaneous with natural yeasts, and he likes to give them the time they need to clarify and stabilize in stainless steel tanks and large neutral oak casks. Prädikatsweine and dry wines receive the same, unadulterated, very reduced treatment without the superfluous use of technology. The wines are bottled unfined.