The "Carl Loewen Rieslingweingut" is located in the municipality of Leiwen (Bernkastel area) in the German
Moselle wine-growing region. It is managed by Karl Josef Loewen. An important step in 1982 was the takeover of vineyards from the
Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt winery in the Laurentiuslay site. At the beginning of 2008, the Carl Schmitt-Wagner vineyard (Longuich) with 1.4 hectares of vineyards in the Maximiner Herrenberg was taken over. This vineyard was planted by Carl Schmitt-Wagner as early as 1896 and still stands in its original state. With a
dense planting of 10,000 canes/ha with well over a hundred-year-old ungrafted Riesling vines in traditional Moselle stake training, this vineyard is a vinological cultural monument. The vineyards cover a total of 12.5 hectares of vines in the single vineyard sites
Held (Pölich), Klostergarten and
Laurentiuslay (Leiwen), Maximiner Klosterlay (Detzem),
Ritsch (Thörnich), as well as in the aforementioned
Maximiner Herrenberg (Longuich).
Riesling is cultivated to 95%, the small remainder consists of one third hectare each of Pinot Blanc and Müller-Thurgau. Natural viticulture is practised with, for example, natural
cover crop and no mineral fertilisation. In order to exploit the great potential of the vineyards, Loewen takes unconventional approaches. "My goal is not to make little wine from few grapes, but to make little wine from many grapes". This is achieved with partly very old vines and low-yielding, small-berried Riesling clones. The wines are matured in a controlled, slow fermentation process with natural yeasts. The wines are predominantly matured in classic wooden barrels. Sites are only mentioned on the label if the terroir is clearly recognisable. A top-class dry Riesling is vinified from specially selected 500 vines under the name "Varidor". Other premium wines are "Riesling Alte Reben" from vines that are at least 40 years old, as well as "Riesling Leiwener Laurentiuslay Alte Reben" from vines that are partly ungrafted. In suitable years, an ice wine is also produced.
