The Kröber Estate is located in the community of Winningen in the northernmost part of the Mosel, also known as the Terrassenmosel (Terraced Mosel) or Lower Mosel.
As the name suggests, the Terraced Mosel consists of extremely steep sites that are among the steepest in the world. To make them accessible for wine making, the vineyards have to be subdivided and terraced.
Family history traces back to Werner Kröber, who had a successful business as a cooper making wine barrels. But with the increased use of synthetic tanks in the 1960s, the family business gradually became obsolete. Wine making had previously been an additional source of income for the Kröber family, but it now became its main focus.
In 1991, Rüdiger Kröber and his wife Ute took over the management of the estate and purchased additional parcels in the steepest, most coveted vineyard sites around Winningen. Today, the Estate’s vineyards cover 7.5 ha, including sites in the Röttgen, Uhlen, Brückstück and Hamm vineyards. 94% of the vines planted are Riesling vines.
Unlike much of the rest of the Mosel, the soil in the Lower Mosel is characterized by ancient volcanic activity, which amassed composite rock from various areas and redistributed it across the landscape.
With slopes of up to 100% (45 degrees), the Uhlen vineyard is southward faced and consists of a mixture of blue, gray-calcareous and red-quartzite slate, which all create different aromas in wine ranging from slightly salty over juicy to spicy. The terraces on the Uhlen have been constructed over centuries and are shelter to many protected and rare animals, among them more than 500 different kinds of beetles, which create a unique ecosystem in the vineyard and promote pesticide-free agriculture. Among some of the protected animals are the European green lizard and the mountain Apollo butterfly.
The Röttgen vineyard is a young vineyard that was brought into existence only when Prussian soldiers, who were stationed in the area, created a vineyard out of the rock face of the Röttgen in 1822. The Röttgen vineyard features mineral-rich slate that is reminiscent of white peach and melon aromas. It is assumed that the soil of the Röttgen was created as part of an ancient ocean that once existed here.
The Kröber family harvests the grapes as carefully as possible and without the use of any kind of mechanical pressure on the grapes. The wine ferments in stainless steel tanks or in aged barrels that where still coopered by Rüdiger Kröber’s father. Rüdiger Kröber places a lot of value on a prolonged and calm fermentation period and wines are typically released no sooner than the summer of the following year.
