Altenberg Riesling Alte Reben Grosse Lage Nr23
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2038
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck, creamy mushroom risotto, spicy Asian cuisine
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the legendary Kanzemer Altenberg, one of the steepest vineyard sites in the entire Saar valley with a dizzying slope of up to 110 percent, this wine represents the pinnacle of Van Volxem's artisanal craftsmanship. The 'Alte Reben' (ancient vines) here are largely ungrafted and over a century old, digging their roots deep into the iron-rich, red Devonian slate soils. Historically, wines from the Altenberg were prized alongside the finest Bordeaux growths at the turn of the 20th century. Van Volxem vinifies this Grosse Lage masterpiece using traditional spontaneous fermentation in large oak fuder casks, allowing the wild yeasts to carve out a wine of immense structural complexity. The result is a majestic, multi-layered Riesling that seamlessly marries the Saar's cool-climate tension with an exotic, texturally rich mineral depth.
🍾 About the Producer
With viticultural roots reaching back to Roman antiquity and an 18th-century Jesuit monastery, Weingut Van Volxem is a historic estate situated in Wiltingen along the steep slopes of the Saar in Germany's Mosel region. The estate experienced a dramatic renaissance when Roman Niewodniczanski acquired it in 1999, dedicating the estate to restoring the Saar's historic reputation for world-class, dry-style wines crafted with artisanal precision. Working with venerable old vines across premier Grand Cru terroirs—including iconic sites like Scharzhofberger, Wiltinger Gottesfuss, and Kanzemer Altenberg—the winery practices low yields, hand-harvesting, and spontaneous fermentation in traditional wooden casks. Van Volxem is celebrated internationally for its powerful, mineral-etched Riesling Grosses Gewächs, old-vine cuvées, and expressive traditional method sparkling wines.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Riesling
🍷 Alcohol By Volume (ABV)
12% - 12.5%