Hofgut Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese Feinherb 2023

The Riesling grapes are gently pressed whole bunch, and their musts are left overnight to settle naturally, before being racked and fermented with ambient yeasts in 1,000-liter Fuder casks (Fuderfässer) and a couple of 500-liter Halbfuder, the traditional fermenting and aging vessels for Mosel wine.

Most of their vineyards are located on various south-facing slopes, including Niedermenniger Herrenberg—listed as “Zuckerberg” on Franz Josef Clotten’s 1868 Saar und Mosel Weinbau-Karte—and the once highly rated Euchariusberg. The soil is primarily iron-rich gray slate, with some quartz and quartzite-bearing sandstone, along with diabase intrusions in the choice western flank of Krettnacher Altenberg (called Silberberg in the mid-20th century). The father-and-son team of Erich and Johannes Weber don’t use herbicides and believe in low yields—just one short “flat” or non-arched cane (Flachbogen) per vine—to produce an array of dry (trocken), off-dry (feinherb), and fruity Saar wines, which represent true cask-by-cask bottlings.