Heymann Löwenstein
The Löwenstein family has been making wine in Winningen since 1520. Heymann-Löwenstein was founded in 1980 by Reinhard Löwenstein and his wife Cornelia Heymann in Winningen in the Untermosel region of the Terassenmosel. Their production is 98% Riesling and 2% Spätburgunder, all 13 hectares of which are planted on very steep terraced slopes. The soil is composed of 7 different slate types created 400 million years ago when the two continental plates collided. Heymann-Löwenstein has been a member of the VDP since 1997 and is Fair & Green certified.
Weingut Heymann-Löwenstein is a terroir-oriented producer of mostly dry Riesling located in Winningen in the lower stretches of the Mosel valley, just a few kilometer outside Koblenz.
The winemaking philosophy at Heymann-Löwenstein aims to best express the individual terroir embodied by each of these sites.
At the move in 1983 the yield was lowered and the quality improved. An early success was scored with the 1985 vintage, when their Uhlen Spätlese trocken won the first place, tasted blind, at a large German/Austrian wine challenge in 1987. That year the Prädikat designations was removed from Reinhard’s dry wines. He continued to try his way with the wine making, and in 1996 had arrived at the style that he’s mostly kept to since then. This involves a certain time of maceration, and fermentation using indigenous yeasts.
On a more practical level, the fruit undergoes meticulous sorting in the vineyards; then the juice is given 24 to 48 hours skin contact, before fermenting to as close to full dryness as possible Crucially, Reinhard aims to incorporate between 10 and 20 percent botrytised fruit to his dry wines, imparting complexity and richness. The wines usually achieve around 12 percent alcohol, as they aren’t bottled until well into the summer, unlike more classical Mosel styles, which are bottled in March or April. The result is wine with great personality and energy, just like its grower.
Production
Site
Weingut Heymann-Löwenstein is a terroir-oriented producer of mostly dry Riesling located in Winningen in the lower stretches of the Mosel valley, just a few kilometer outside Koblenz.
The winemaking philosophy at Heymann-Löwenstein aims to best express the individual terroir embodied by each of these sites.
At the move in 1983 the yield was lowered and the quality improved. An early success was scored with the 1985 vintage, when their Uhlen Spätlese trocken won the first place, tasted blind, at a large German/Austrian wine challenge in 1987. That year the Prädikat designations was removed from Reinhard’s dry wines. He continued to try his way with the wine making, and in 1996 had arrived at the style that he’s mostly kept to since then. This involves a certain time of maceration, and fermentation using indigenous yeasts.
On a more practical level, the fruit undergoes meticulous sorting in the vineyards; then the juice is given 24 to 48 hours skin contact, before fermenting to as close to full dryness as possible Crucially, Reinhard aims to incorporate between 10 and 20 percent botrytised fruit to his dry wines, imparting complexity and richness. The wines usually achieve around 12 percent alcohol, as they aren’t bottled until well into the summer, unlike more classical Mosel styles, which are bottled in March or April. The result is wine with great personality and energy, just like its grower.
