Kirchberg Riesling Trocken Erste Lage
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2038
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
pan-seared trout, roasted pork loin, mildly spiced poultry dishes
✨ Technical Specifications
The Winninger Kirchberg Riesling Erste Lage from Heymann-Löwenstein is a masterclass in the extreme viticulture of Germany's Terrassenmosel. Grown on dizzyingly steep, terraced slopes where mechanized farming is impossible, this wine reflects the unique terroir of the Kirchberg vineyard, characterized by its ancient grey slate soils. The estate's commitment to low-intervention winemaking—including spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts and extended aging on the lees in traditional large oak casks—allows the Riesling to develop a profound mineral complexity. Historically, these dramatic cliffs have been cultivated since Roman times, and Heymann-Löwenstein captures this ancient heritage in a dry, structured white wine that balances vibrant acidity with intense herbal and stony notes.
🍾 About the Producer
Weingut Heymann-Löwenstein was founded in 1980 by Reinhard Löwenstein and Cornelia Heymann-Löwenstein in Winningen, revitalizing centuries of familial viticultural heritage in the Terrassenmosel. Championing the dramatic, steeply terraced slopes along the lower Mosel, the estate tends approximately 14 hectares of dry-stone wall vineyards tilted up to 80 percent gradients. The viticultural terroir centers on heterogeneous Devonian slate formations, distinguished into blue-gray slate, iron-rich red slate, and fossil-infused calcareous slate. Winemaking adheres to an uncompromising, artisanal ethos: hand-harvested grapes undergo native-yeast fermentation in traditional wooden Fuder casks without additions, followed by long contact with fine lees and late bottling up to 24 months post-harvest. Member of the VDP since 1997, the estate excels in dense, bone-dry, age-worthy Grosses Gewächs bottlings from benchmark crus like Winninger Uhlen—divided into Roth Lay, Laubach, and Blaufüsser Lay—as well as Röttgen, Kirchberg, and the harmonious regional cuvée Schieferterrassen.
🍇 Grapes
Riesling