Mosel: Winding Slopes of Slate and Kabinett

Saar

“The wine for before sport, during sport, and after sport” 

- Martin Foradori, Dr. Fischer

"Saar" stems from the Celtic word Sara (streaming water), and that's what it is: a shallow river that rises from the Vosges and flows northward from France to Germany, where the Saar empties into the Mosel at Konz. It's the last 12 kilometers of the Mosel's largest tributary, where you'll find a series of steep, south-facing vineyards that read like a Grand-award winning wine list: Saarburger Rausch, Ayler Kupp, Kanzemer Altenberg, and, of the most famous of them all, Scharzhofberg.

In his classic book, The Wines of Germany, Frank Schoonmaker wrote of Saar wines, "There is a combination of qualities that I can best describe as indescribable." Saar wines taste distinctly different from the Middle Mosel due to their elevation, proximity to the Hunsrück mountains, and cooler climate. The wines are generally lighter, intensely aromatic, and often come with piercing acidity.

Like the rest of the Mosel, Riesling is a dominant variety, and Devonian slate characterizes all the best vineyards. There are pockets of volcanic diabase, most famously at Saarburger Rausch, and reddish iron layers of Rotliegiend in several sites, including the Scharzhofberg and Kanzemer Altenberg. For a survey of Saar's top vineyard sites, I recommend the VDP's online tool: VDP.Vineyard.Online, which identifies the vineyards classified as VDP.Grosse Lage, aka, the grand crus.

Starting way upriver in Serrig, the monopole site of Schloss Saarstein is the Serriger Schloss Saarstein. Greywacke soil with slate, this steep vineyard overlooking the Saar climbs to 220 meters of elevation, and the wines have accentuated acidity and long-aging potential. The next village of Saarburg is home to the Saarburger Rausch, a well-protected vineyard facing the charming town of Saarburg. Devonian slate with volcanic basalt, known as diabase, gives these wines a distinct character. Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken and Dr. Wagner are the producers to know here.

In Ockfen is the famous amphitheater-shaped Ockfener Bockstein, a classic Saar site of Devonian slate cultivated since Roman times; Bockstein is capable of some of the Saar's finest wines. The Bockstein has many owners, and Von Othegraven makes outstanding wines here. The Ayler Kupp is a 50-hectare hillside of several historic parcels, bottled separately by Peter Lauer: Unterstenberg, Stirn, Kern, and Neuenberg.

At this point in our journey towards the Mosel, the Saar appears to split due to a manufactured canal between Biebelhausen and Hamm, creating an artificial island in arguably the filet section of the Saar. Here, perched above the Saar, is the impressive Van Volxem winery, with holdings of several VDP.Grosse Lage sites throughout the Saar Valley. Wawern lies in a side valley to the west where Van Volxem has holdings in Ritterpfad and Goldberg. It's also where you'll find Von Othegraven's monopole: Großer Herrenberg.

Skipping to the other side of the island, we've now arrived at Scharzhofberg, an Orsteil belonging to the village of Wiltigen and Germany's most famous vineyard. While several excellent VDP estates like Von Hövel, von Kesselstatt, and Van Volxem have holdings here, Scharzhofberg links directly to Egon Müller. Weathered slate with high iron content, good aeration, and perfect exposure, the Egon Müller Scharzhofberg gives legendary wines with incredible longevity and jaw-dropping prices at auction.

Flowing downstream, the final bends in the river give us the spectacularly steep Gottesfuß (Van Volxem, von Kesselstatt), Braune Kupp (Le Gallais/Egon Müller), Wiltigen Kupp (Von Othegraven), and last but not least the Kanzemer Altenberg. The Altenberg, "as steep as the Matterhorn," as Von Othegraven's owner Günther Jauch likes to say, is an exceptional site with iron-laden sections of weathered Devonian slate.