Domaine Carl Loewen

Domaine Carl Loewen: Mosel Rieslings since 1803, ungrafted vines from 1896

Estate name

Weingut Carl Loewen, Leiwen (Mosel, Germany). A family estate run by Christopher Loewen, the eighth generation, alongside his father Karl-Josef.

Wine region

The estate lies in the Middle Mosel, between Trier and Bernkastel, where it meets the Upper Mosel. Its vines cover some 18 hectares spread across four villages: Leiwen, Longuich, Detzem and Thörnich. Steep slopes, Devonian slate soils and a cool climate tempered by the aspect of the vineyards and the light reflected off the river.

Appellations and terroirs

Four single vineyards form the backbone of the range. Maximin Klosterlay, once owned by the Abbey of St. Maximin in Trier, lies on blue slate, facing west above a dammed stretch of the Mosel. Maximin Herrenberg (Longuich), facing due south on iron-rich red slate, was placed in the top category of the 1868 Prussian classification. Thörnicher Ritsch, on crumbly grey slate, never went through land consolidation because the ground is so unstable; it too appears in the 1868 classification. Laurentiuslay (Leiwen) has kept its terraces and dry-stone walls, as consolidation was judged too costly.

Signature grape varieties

• Riesling: almost the only variety grown, from the estate wines (Varidor, Quant) to the Ritsch and Maximin Herrenberg Große Gewächse, by way of the Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese wines.
• Pinot Blanc (Weißburgunder): a dry cuvée made from vines of Alsace origin.
• Müller-Thurgau: 50% of the Blauschiefer cuvée, blended with Riesling.

Philosophy and history

The story begins in 1803: during the Napoleonic secularisation, an ancestor of the family bought vines in the Klosterlay from the Abbey of St. Maximin. These plots remain the bedrock of the estate. From the 1980s onwards, Karl-Josef Loewen bought up steep old-vine plots that nobody else wanted to work any more, then in 1998 acquired his first parcels in the Ritsch. He later took over the Carl Schmitt-Wagner estate in Longuich, and with it the Maximin Herrenberg plot planted on its own roots in 1896 and never replanted, which the estate describes as one of the oldest Riesling vineyards in the world. Christopher Loewen, who trained at Geisenheim and then in New Zealand and the United States, joined the estate in July 2015 and runs it today. His approach: "a light Riesling with character", in the estate's own words, achieved by intervening as little as possible in the cellar.

Production methods

More than half of the vineyard is planted with ungrafted vines aged 60 to 120 years. Whole bunches are pressed at no more than 2 bar without moving the pomace, to avoid the phenolic notes that come from the stems. The musts are deliberately oxidised before fermentation. Fermentation is spontaneous, with indigenous yeasts, no enzymes, no nutrients and no temperature control, in a cellar kept at 11 °C. The single-vineyard wines are fermented and aged in foudres of around 1,000 litres with an average age of 25 years; the estate wines stay in stainless steel. The Riesling 1896, from the historic Herrenberg plot, is produced at 40 hl/ha according to the estate, and made "as it was two centuries ago". The Varidor cuvée is based on a massal selection of century-old Riesling vines that never went through nursery selection.

Environmental commitment

The estate claims no organic or biodynamic certification. Its practices are about preservation: old ungrafted vines kept rather than grubbed up, unconsolidated plots that retain their walls and terraces, manual work dictated by the slope, and winemaking without additives. These points are documented by the estate and its importers; they do not amount to a label.

Recognition

• Member of the Bernkasteler Ring (Der Ring Mosel), an association of Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Riesling estates.
• Karl-Josef Loewen named "Aufsteiger-Winzer des Jahres" (rising winemaker of the year) by Stuart Pigott in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in 2011.
• Estate singled out by Stuart Pigott in the FAZ in November 2017, after Christopher Loewen's arrival.

Why choose a Carl Loewen wine?

• A Riesling plot planted on its own roots in 1896 and still in production.
• More than 50% ungrafted vines aged 60 to 120 years, on slopes that never went through land consolidation.
• Spontaneous fermentation and ageing in traditional foudres, with no oenological additives.
• Two single vineyards classified as early as 1868: Maximin Herrenberg and Thörnicher Ritsch.
• A complete Riesling range from dry to sweet, all from the same slate terroirs.

Explore the Carl Loewen selection: Mosel Rieslings fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in foudres, from one of the oldest ungrafted vineyards in Germany.