In 2006 we acquired a contiguous plot of approximately 3 ha in the Southern Moselle region just in front of the the German-Luxemburg border at Langsur. This unique terraced landscape is known as the Langsurer Brüderberg: geologically rich in limestone soil making it perfect for the production of great burgundy wines. The original tiny single plots, overgrown or planted with Elbling, had to be completely cleared before planting most of the area with slow growing French Chardonnay clones, the rest being made up of Pinot Blanc, Traminer, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Muscatel and Viognier. The extreme gradients in this part of the Southern Moselle region make cultivation very challenging, requiring a great deal of patience and manual labour. We currently develop our grapes from the Brüderberg (ca. 90 % Chardonnay, 10% other burgundy whites as a so-called „field blend“ ) in two product lines, beginning with the Langsurer Brüderberg „Muschelkalk“ (means „shell limestone“): a field blend matured in large wooden barrels and bottled in June/July the year after harvesting. At the top end we offer the Lansurer Brüderberg Terrassen S, from grapes grown on the terraces higher up the slope. We mature this wine in small Barrique barrels and bottle it in September following the year after harvesting. Pre-used Barriques are deliberately chosen for aging to achieve a gracefully embedded woody touch, while avoiding a predominantly wooden taste. In the last years we also planted some Pinot Noir at the Langsurer Brüderberg, exclusively clones from Burgundy with very low yields. We have recently begun cultivating some steep slope plots in „grand cru“ vineyards on the Saar (Oberemmeler Altenberg, Wiltinger Klosterberg and Wiltinger Braunfels). These vineyards are planted with Riesling (almost exlusively „Old Vines“ from vines which are on average 50 years old), Pinot Noir Précoce and Pinot Noir. Cultivation in our vineyards is near-natural, without mineral fertilizers and herbizides. Greening between the vines is natural and not sowed. Also in the vineyard we follow the „less is more“ principle. Intense flavors of herbs are noticeable in all our wines and are the result of our minimalist cultivation method in the vineyards.
