Reinhard Löwenstein created his estate in 1980, spending the early years identifying top sites, before settling on five hectares of prime, precipitous Winningen (Lower Mosel) slate slopes. His passion lies in expressing the personality of each of his myriad slate soils, trusting only in his senses.
The soils are made up of grey slate, which is silt, sand and fossil-rich (fossilised shells and crustaceans can clearly be seen in rocks in the vineyard). Facing south-southwest, the vineyard covers 2.2ha. Some smokiness combines with florals and stony minerality on the nose, with a citrus backbone. Great intensity of acidity and fruit structure is somehow delicately wrought in. The wine has a saline finish with real purity and focus. A lightness of touch is particularly evident here and belies the incredible power this wine possesses.
Reinhard Löwenstein created his estate in 1980, spending the early years identifying top sites, before settling on five hectares of prime, precipitous Winningen (Lower Mosel) slate slopes. Since then, the estate has grown to 15 hectares, incorporating sites in the Von Blauem, Kirchberg, Stolzenberg, Röttgen and Uhlen vineyards.
This landscape is both wild and beautiful and is made up of a patchwork of soil types, many of which influence the characters of the wines. Their grower is an eccentric perfectionist and his passion lies in expressing the personality of each of his myriad slate soils. He believes that good "energy" in the vineyard and winery will result in good wine. In an effort to create this, the winery is filled with the soothing sounds of running water and windpipes.
On a more practical level, the fruit undergoes meticulous sorting in the vineyards; then the juice is given 24 to 48 hours skin contact, before fermenting to as close to full dryness as possible Crucially, Reinhard aims to incorporate between 10 and 20 percent botrytised fruit to his dry wines, imparting complexity and richness. The wines usually achieve around 12 percent alcohol, as they aren't bottled until well into the summer, unlike more classical Mosel styles, which are bottled in March or April. The result is wine with great personality and energy, just like its grower.