Exploring Germany's Mosel Valley: A 24-Hour Wine Adventure across 5 Wineries
- Ryan Bair
- May 22
- 13 min read
Updated: May 22
In this two-part travel diary, Ryan recounts his time spent exploring some of the most famed wines of France and Germany. After exploring Champagne and Chablis, Ryan embarks on an impromptu trip to the Mosel Valley. Find part one here.
Part Two of Ryan's European Wine Adventure
February 10th, 2025
Unexpected Journey: From London to the Mosel Valley, Germany's Wine Wonderland
After a lovely vacation in Paris with a good friend of mine, we took the Eurostar to London so that I could finish my trip visiting old friends and nostalgically walking around the beautiful city. I checked into my Airbnb around 3 pm, I somehow managed to find an Airbnb on the same exact road I lived on for almost two years. It was perfect.
But after two hours of relaxing and resting, Jake sent me a text saying he was tasting some pretty awesome wines with Stephen Bitterolf, founder of importing company Vom Boden.
Vom Boden imports wines mostly from Germany, focusing on micro wineries that produce exceptional wines.
We are constantly working with their wines, and they represent some of my absolute favorite growers—winemakers I was introduced to while working in London. I was so excited to hear that Jake was tasting with him and told him to tell me everything!!
What I wasn’t expecting was a text telling me to get on the next flight to Germany to visit and stay with one of our winemaking heroes, and a worldwide recognized legend, Ulli Stein.
You’ve probably tried his wines if you’ve even spent one second in our store. The wines are basically impossible not to recommend. Everything from his Secco Rosé sparkling wine all the way to his Cabernet Sauvignon (yup, you heard that right- Mosel Cab!!!!) and everything in between, including his legendary Riesling and Pinot Noir, just excites us to the next level.
I thought it was a joke.
It wasn’t. Jake did everything he could to get as much information to me as possible, and I ended up on a flight at 6:30 am on the 12th of February from London Heathrow to Frankfurt, where I rented a car and made my way to a little slice of heaven.
Stephen made this one-night stay into what felt like a 5-day trip, in the best way possible. He organized visits to 5 total wine producers in the short amount of time I was in the Mosel Valley, and all 5 producers welcomed me with the most open arms and treated me like I was their family. All on 1 day's notice. Bonkers.
I never imagined something so cool and so amazing could happen, but sometimes life just treats you.
February 12th, 2025
Exploring the Mosel Valley: Discovering the Enchantment of German Winemaking
I arrived at London Heathrow at 3:50am, and I’ve never felt so alive at that time of day. Crazy what excitement can do to someone. I arrived at a foggy Frankfurt International Airport (of course, it was foggy…) and picked up my rental car. I immediately headed towards the highway.
Driving in Germany was much different than France.
Faster cars, more road work, and vines surrounded the road as soon as you left the city. There are also more changes in speed limits, which I would find out the hard way when I received a letter (speeding ticket) from the Rheinland-Pfalz Polizei in German a month after I got back....... Ooops! Thankfully, the fog had cleared, and visibility was amazing.
My heart was beating, and I couldn’t contain my excitement. I was about 15 minutes out from my first destination, Weingut Weiser-Küntsler in Traben-Trarbach, when I started to see mist coming from the tops of trees.
Weingut Weiser-Küntsler
The descent started into the valley, with steep winding roads taking me far down towards the misty, monstrous, and ever-powerful Mosel River. The first glances were unfathomably ridiculous.
Not a single picture can do justice to the grand scale these slopes possess, although I tried my hardest to capture some for you to see. The town is quaint and so German. Right out of the textbook.
Parking was next to the river, and when I got out of my car, one of my ultimate bucket list items had been checked off.
There I was, on the Mosel River looking up into the steep vineyards, thinking how the hell did this even happen?? I walked for three minutes to Weingut Weiser-Küntsler, where Konstantin Weiser was awaiting my arrival.
Konstantin is the embodiment of the best of small wineries in the Mosel.
He could not stop smiling while he was describing the history of his estate, and his loving personality showed so prominently in his wines. He taught me about his vineyards and told me the challenges and advantages of holding such legendary land.
Then I was told something that I would hear from every single producer I would meet, and I was lucky to hear it: 2023 was one of the greatest vintages the Mosel has ever seen for a lot of producers. And this showed. Big time.
He mentioned there was a little bit of rot towards the end of the season, but that is possible when you are trying to grow grapes destined for a late harvest. Acid is high, freshness is always there, and the slate-driven minerality was soaring across all of the wines.
We tasted 13 of his wines, all 100% Riesling.
Did I say I was in heaven yet? You might have tried his entry-level Riesling by the glass back in our bar, or you might have been one of the lucky few people who picked up a bottle from our small allocation of his Kabinett—wowzers, that is still one of my favorites.
The labels have a distinctive owl on them, and Konstantin’s surname means Owl. There are countless ceramic owls of all shapes and sizes throughout the winery, and he laughed when I asked him about it—he just loves them to be there!
We ventured down into his ancient cellar, covered in black colored mold. It is good for the cellar to have mold, though. It stabilizes the temperature and means the moisture levels are just right for fermentation and maturation.
He even found an old oak barrel with a beautiful owl carved into it; of course, he had to have it.
The cellar was so charming, romantic, and it smelled so good down there.
After we were finished with the tour, he told me how to get to the next winery from there, as everyone in the Vom Boden portfolio seems to be quite close friends with each other!
Weingut Vollenweider
After a 3-minute drive over the picturesque bridge over the Mosel, I turned up a back street and went to the end of the road. There, I would find the building that housed Weingut Vollenweider.
29-year-old Möritz Hoffman started working under Daniel Vollenweider and fell in love with the winery and its land holdings. Tragically, Daniel Vollenweider passed away from a long battle with cancer in 2022, and the estate was inherited by Möritz.
He now carries the baton with pride in Daniel’s memory, aiming to keep the winemaking style close to his mentor’s while ever so slightly evolving the estate. He has plans in the future to use the winery building as a learning space for young people, not only for wine-related activities.
The entrance to the property is an awning of old grapevines, all planted in the late 1800s, that have trellised beautifully, creating a unique canopy. During World War I, most old vines were ordered to be ripped up, but these were somehow forgotten, says Möritz.
After a little background, we jumped in his classic white winery van and drove along the riverbanks, watching unbelievably steep vineyards unfold on our right-hand side. He was taking me to his prized vineyard holding Wolfer Goldgrube, overlooking the small town of Wolf on the opposite bank of the river. The Wolfer Goldgrube is an exceptional vineyard, with complex slate soils and massively steep slopes.
The difference between vine owners is completely obvious row to row.
Everyone else’s vines: new grafted plantings with trellised vines that were tied together down the slope, mostly with no cover crops and some sad-looking thin vine material.
Möritz’s vines: ungrafted, gnarly, 80 year old Riesling vines that are trained vertically on these 10 foot wooden poles—I asked if these were similar training methods to what one might find in Saint-Joseph, he said think of that but on meth!!
We walked through the steep, fragile land up the slopes until we reached a fence.
He is trying to recover an old abandoned vineyard site and first needs some shrubs to be taken care of. His solution was to put sheep on the slopes, who have quite a happy life eating and walking around in the vast forest above the vineyard, admiring the view of the river below. He mentioned that they have to be moved to the other side of the river in the summertime because the river reflects too much heat, making them uncomfortable.
If you can’t tell already, Möritz is in love with his land and will do anything to preserve a diverse ecosystem in his vineyards.
We then drove back to the winery, where we tasted some of his wines—and they were stellar. So lean, so weightless, so powerful. Just insanely special.
He recently discovered some 2007 Spätlese trocken (trocken means dry!! Bone dry!!) from the Goldgrube vineyard we just visited in the cellar. He is releasing it this year in memory of Daniel’s hard work and legacy.
Möritz opened one for me, and it was perfect. Just wonderful.
Big things are coming for this winery, and I am so happy that the wines are represented in the States. We have not worked with them yet in the store, but that is about to change.
Support this man at all costs. Möritz thanked me for coming and sent me on my way an hour down the banks of the Mosel to the man himself in the tiny town of Alf, Herr Ulli Stein.
Stein
Every time someone found out I was visiting Ulli, they instantly asked me to greet him for them. Everyone loves this guy, he IS the Mosel.
After a beautiful drive along the bank, a bridge across the river appears connecting the towns of Alf and Bullay. The bottom portion of the bridge is for cars and the top for a train that happened to not run that day (good thing I had a rental car).
Behind the bridge on my left emerged one of the most epic sights I’ve ever seen. A terrifyingly steep vineyard that rose to the top of a mountainside with a dramatic white castle perched at the summit.
This is Ulli’s house, Haus Waldfrieden. It used to be a hotel and 40 years ago, Ulli bought it and transformed it into the heart of Mosel culture.
He’s hosted everyone here from the most prominent cultural figures, actors, musicians, winemakers, friends, family, and I was lucky enough to be the only guest that night. Ulli immediately greeted me with a smile and wanted to show me the epic vineyard I saw on the way up.
He and his father planted it around 65 years ago and called it “Alfer Hölle” meaning After Hell, due to the steepness and epicness. Here he grows Riesling mostly, but with a sprinkle of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot 2/3s the way down the slope. What the hell was I looking at? Probably one of the most special vineyards in Germany, if not the world.
He went on to discuss that there’s another plot on the other side of the hill called Alfer Hölle 1900, where 1,200 ungrafted Riesling vines were planted in the year 1900. This is where Ulli farms fruit for his top-of-the-line wine. And guess what. It’s only $70. If you're quick and beat me to it, we usually get drops twice a year of three bottles;)!
Ulli is passionate about friendship, sharing, and spreading the love. He says that he doesn’t want his wines to reach high prices. He insisted multiple times throughout my stay that his wines need to stay for the people. For students, for low-income individuals, and for wine lovers that seek stimulation.
In Germany, his entry-level wine is a 1-liter screwcap bottle of Riesling that sits under €10. And it’s delicious. His wines are always half the price they could be, but he would be furious if people took advantage of that and sold them for more. Wine for the people is what he kept saying. He mentioned later in our tour of the cellar that if he ever released a high-priced wine, it would be towards the end of his life, and the funds would go to saving the Mosel.
He invited me into his castle and showed me to the dining room, where we sat at a table with a window whose view was as romantic and idyllic as one can imagine. We started flight one of our tasting, which included all of his roses, sparkling wine, and some of his entry-level rieslings. Warm, freshly baked bread was on the table all night long, too. We sat down at 5pm, and there wouldn’t be much more getting up for the rest of the night. Conversation flowed naturally, as if we knew each other for decades.
It is so obvious that Ulli's legacy needs to be protected at all costs. His philosophy is inspirational, and his work ethic is admirable. Always traditional but pushing the boundaries in secret, always trying to have the most fun himself! Each time he told me a new secret, his laugh was so passionate and most certainly infectious. He was insistent on showing me the whole range of his winemaking and made dinner to pair with the wines.
As the night flowed on, he kept opening bottle after bottle, and he went into his private cellar to retrieve extremely rare bottles from my birth vintage, 1999.
We tried some other aged wines that are still so youthful in style. These wines are basically indestructible, which is almost impossible at such an affordable price. He opened around 25 bottles for me, deeply discussing the roots of each wine and why no wine in his lineup was more important than another.
Around 4am, we finally got out of our seats, and I went to the top floor of the castle, where my bedroom for the night overlooked the unreal views of the Mosel. We agreed to wake up at 8:30am to have breakfast.
February 13th, 2025
Perhaps I had a bit too much to drink as I forgot to set an alarm. How embarrassing! I did not expect Ulli Stein to be knocking on my door, waking me up, laughing at the fact that I overslept. He seemed to appreciate it, however, as spirits were high. We still had work to do, though!
After breakfast, we drove down the slope and across the bridge into Bullay, where Ulli’s winery and cellar are.
The cellar is magic.
There is structure to it, but you can tell it is the work of an artist. Barrels and tanks line the cold, dripping walls. In each barrel, something special. He recently acquired two barrels from Domaine de la Romanée Conti, where he will mature his highest-end Pinot noir in the coming years.
We started to taste many different wines directly from the barrel, with the most special being a long élevage skin-contact Riesling that has been under flor for over 6 years now.
Not even the slightest sign of faulty oxidation, as two years ago, a minuscule 15ppm sulphur dose was added. Just pure class and character with concentration that you couldn’t even dream of. Ulli doesn’t know if he’ll ever sell it, but if he ever does, you’ll have to try and beat me to it.
At this point, one of Ulli’s former students walks into the cellar.
American-born Chad Singley met us to taste as well. He worked for Ulli for a bit and now works full time for Philip Lardot, and is in the process of making his first vintage for his new winery. More on that later.
This guy is insanely awesome. 34 years old and sold everything he owned in the States to be a part of the life of the Mosel. His passion is unparalleled.
Philip Lardot
After we tasted with Ulli together, Chad drove me to the famed Palmberg vineyard, which Ulli and Philip Lardot split in half. Ulli and his father planted this famous vineyard with ungrafted Riesling vines on dangerously steep slopes. It is easy to slip down the slope, and it happened to both of us a couple of times. Nothing a wine geek can’t handle.
Chad showed me Philips vines are trained a bit differently than Ulli's, but neither way is better or worse.
Ulli lets two canes of new wood emerge from the permanent wood of the vine, and he will tie both canes back in a circle, creating what is known as a Mosel heart.
Chad and Philip prune all the way down to a single cane where they can tie it in a circle back to the vine post. This creates half a Mosel heart, and the fruit is more concentrated on these shoots, as there are fewer berries for the vine to focus on.
There is a prominent challenge to farming these slopes, however.
There are frequent landslides that have the ability to take out multiple old, ungrafted vines. This is devastating for many reasons. Growers like Chad are continuously building slate walls into the sides of their vineyards to try and prevent these landslides and protect their vines.
After our mountainous hike through his vineyards, we drove to the winery and cellar of Philip Lardot, where Chad also has a few barrels of his own wine.
Barrels were stacked to the ceiling. We started tasting from the tank a new unreleased Pinot Blanc, which was so complex and delicious. We then tasted through the Lardot Rieslings. Insane. Just wow.
After that, Chad climbed up the barrels and let me sample his first-ever wine.
It was sourced from one of the vineyards we were just exploring. So floral and fresh, with intense complexity and mouth-watering acidity.
Keep your eye on this guy! His new winery is called Low Grade Metamorphic—in homage to the complex slate soils that make up the slopes of the Mosel. So cool.
Chad drove me back to Bullay, where I got in my rental car and drove to my final appointment of the trip, which was exciting to say the least.
Weingut Hermann Ludes
The drive took me away from the valley for a bit, so when I finally descended back towards the river, it was as exciting as the first time. This time, the vineyard that I was descending against was Weingut Hermann Ludes’ impossibly steep Grand Cru vineyard Thörnicher Ritsch.
Upon arrival at the winery, I was met by a busy construction site. Julien Ludes, the new winemaker at the estate, greeted me, signaling me to go towards a small wooden hut in the middle of the field near his winery. Who doesn’t love a tiny tasting hut with a massive fridge overlooking steep Mosel vineyards?? It was so comfy. He started pouring wine after wine, mostly coming from the Thörnicher Ritsch vineyard.
Julien had to oversee the construction halfway through the tasting, so his LEGENDARY uncle Hermann Ludes came to finish the tasting with me. This man spoke only three words of English: Trump is idiot! The rest, we had to try Google Translate, but it was not working so well.
That didn’t matter too much, because these wines spoke for themselves.
We tried all categories from Trocken to Auslese, and from 1994-2023. Everything in between as well.
There wasn’t enough space in this hut for all of the bottles this man was opening.
The juice was like nectar. We’ve rocked with the Thörnicher Ritsch Kabinett Feinherb “Monster” in the store for some time, and hopefully, you will have the chance to try these wines. The sweetness is so gracefully balanced and only enhances the texture, while a reductive characteristic makes these wines unique from other Mosel producers. Concentration is unreal, and the beautiful roundness of the wines contrasts the searing acidity beautifully.
I wish I could speak German so I could ask Hermann everything about these wines.
After our tasting, I started the two-hour drive back to Frankfurt, where I would finish my one-night trip to the dreamy and ever mysterious Mosel Valley.
Thanks again to Stephen Bitterolf and Vom Boden for making this trip possible; it was the experience of a lifetime.
I am counting down the days until I can go back and spend more time with these absolutely lovely pioneers of the wine world. But for now, we are beyond lucky to stock these wines in our store and support the back-breaking work these growers do.
Prost!!!
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