Rotschiefer Riesling
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2030
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Spicy Thai curry, roasted pork belly, Wiener Schnitzel
✨ Technical Specifications
Van Volxem's Rotschiefer Riesling is a brilliant tribute to the rare red Devonian slate (Rotschiefer) soils found in select steep-slope vineyards of the Saar valley. While blue slate dominates the region, these iron-rich red slate pockets impart a distinctively warm, exotic, and spicy character to the wine, yielding notes of ripe apricot, yellow peach, and a complex mineral tension. Owner Roman Niewodniczanski and winemaker Dominik Völk champion a traditional, minimalist approach to capture this unique terroir. The grapes are harvested by hand at optimal ripeness, followed by a gentle pressing and spontaneous fermentation using indigenous yeasts in traditional, neutral oak fuder casks. This patient, non-interventionist winemaking results in a textured, harmonious Riesling that beautifully balances the Saar's signature electric acidity with a rich, mineral-driven depth, echoing the legendary Saar wines of the late 19th century.
🍾 About the Producer
Perched dramatically above the Saar River in Wiltingen, Weingut Van Volxem is one of Germany's most heralded historic wine estates. Originating as a Roman villa complex with viticulture traced back to the 3rd century, the property operated as a Jesuit monastery winery established in 1743 before being acquired post-secularization by Brussels brewer Gustav van Volxem. In late 1999, Roman Niewodniczanski acquired the estate and orchestrated an ambitious renaissance, revitalizing storied steep-slope vineyards and inaugurating a state-of-the-art gravity-fed winery atop the Wiltinger Schlossberg. Managing approximately 85 hectares on Devonian slate across top-tier VDP.Grosse Lage sites—such as Scharzhofberger, Wiltinger Gottesfuß, Volz, and Ockfener Bockstein—the estate works predominantly with old, ungrafted Riesling vines. Practicing sustainable, non-interventional viticulture, cellar master Dominik Völk champions spontaneous wild-yeast fermentations and extended aging in neutral oak and stainless steel. Van Volxem produces intensely mineral, low-alcohol, dry-leaning Rieslings and refined sparkling Sekts that revive the aristocratic, turn-of-the-century prestige of traditional Saar wines.
🍇 Grapes
Riesling
🍷 ABV
11.5-12.5%