Double Vision: Moselle Riesling in Stereo
It's no secret that both Dan and I are diehard fans of Riesling. The mere mention of the grape and my ears perk up like a guard dog — as if I'd been waiting all day for the invitation to hold forth on the subject.
And if you pin me down, after all that discourse, for a favorite region? Without hesitation: the Mosel.
We tend to think of the Mosel as Germany, but the river — Moselle in French — flows north from the Vosges mountains in Alsace, and forms the southeastern border of Luxembourg before it ever reaches the well known German bends. It’s here, just upriver from the numerous German estates, that the Luxembourgish are also doing something pretty special, and which they mostly keep to themselves.
The Luxembourg Moselle is a sleepy and beautiful stretch of riverbank — lined with vineyards on steep slopes, dotted with small villages you'd never guess sit just 20 minutes from a bustling European capital. The wines produced here share the Mosel's signature energy and precision, but with a more generous and approachable character, bridging Alsace and Germany without being either.
Last October afforded me back-to-back visits, stopping first in Ahn, then in Remich, with two producers we've been building a relationship with for a couple of years now. I was there to taste the newest vintage of each of their Rieslings, and I wasn't disappointed. While only a few kilometers apart on the same river, working with the same grape, these are two different cases for Riesling’s greatness, and I couldn’t wait to offer both of them to you.
Schmit-Fohl
Riesling Wormer Koeppchen 2024
Nicolas Schmit is an eighth-generation Luxembourgish winemaker. His winery is a characterful hodgepodge of old buildings in the tiny village of Ahn — but don't let that fool you. He's retrofitted and modernized every corner of it, and the results are wines of startling precision. His Rieslings are electric. Taut, bracing, and completely dry — the kind of wine that makes you sit up straight.
From a small plot just south of the winery, the Wormer Koeppchen is the most driven and focused expression in the Schmit-Fohl lineup. Tropical aromatics of lime pith and papaya open into a mineral-driven finish with ripping acidity. A riesling that commands your attention and holds it.
Claude Bentz
Riesling Bech-Mâcher Naumberg 2024
A few kilometers south, Domaine Claude Bentz couldn't feel more different — and that's part of what makes this pairing so interesting. Carole Bentz heads the winemaking in a stunning, architect-designed facility (her sister's work), surrounded by one of the most extraordinary winery gardens you'll ever see — thirty years of her mother JoJo's obsessive, inspired planting. The wines are equally inviting, generous, and textured.
Carole describes this as the most forward and powerful of her three Rieslings, and she's right. Stone fruit and white tea on the nose, with a Meyer lemon brightness on the finish. Dry, but with a round, enveloping texture that makes it easy to love from the first glass.
One river, one grape; two producers, two personalities, two outstanding wines.
I managed to wrangle 7 cases of each from this small country that mostly keeps its wine to itself. These are drinking great right now, and would be stellar additions to any cellar.