Doctor Vineyard

Doctorweinberg and Along Doctor Wine Mountain Excerpt of AudioGuide tour Mosella Look out! We’ve got to be careful now, because here „Hinter’m graben“, behind the former town gate there are cars driving past. Doctor Wine And here is my home! The Doctor Wineberg or doctor vineyard is rising before us right up to the sharp ridge. Oh, what a beautiful view! And written proudly above the door is Doctorkeller, meaning doctor cellar. And the copper door tells the story of how I came by my name. Mosella The actual Doctor Wineberg begins to the left of the door and stretches right to the next wall to the right hand side. The little house up there is in the middle of Doctor Wine vineyard. Doctor Wine And just imagine: the 3.84 hectares are considered to be the most expensive agricultural land in the world. It’s not surprising of course when you consider that I am one of the most valuable wines in existence. Do you know why that is? Mosella As Wine Queen I know exactly why: The side of the mountain is an excellent steep, south-facing slope bathed in the midday sun. The grapes get the first sun in the morning and the last rays in the evening. Apart from that, when the position of the sun is just right, the shiny slate roofs of the houses and the Moselle river reflect its rays directly into the wine mountains and on top of all that, the mountains are slate mountains, which store the warmth during the day and let it back out during the night. Doctor Wine Exactly! Excellent! I’m warmed from above and below, which ensures a very good average temperature for me to thrive in. Mosella To be fair, though, we must mention that the other wines on the mountain also enjoy the same benefits and thrive just as well as you. Doctor Wine Ahh, yes. But thriving isn’t everything. I’m also very well cared for. It is said that the vintner must go around each vine sixteen times a year, and because the slopes are so steep, I’m worked by hand. Then I’m matured right under the Doctor Wineberg in Berncasteler Doctorkeller. Mosella And I know all about that. The wine cellar is over 350 years old. It goes 100 metres deep into the rock and then branches off another 100 metres to both left and right. The cellar has a constant humidity level and a temperature between 8 and 9 degrees. Doctor Wine Yes, it is here in these ideal and peaceful conditions, that I, Doctor Wine, am stored and matured. Mosella We’d like to talk some more about wine while we´re walking: Today, 56 percent of the wines are Moselle Riesling wines. Riesling is one of the best varieties of white grape wines and it thrives especially well, here in the cooler regions of Germany. Doctor Wine I, too, Doctor Wine, am a Riesling. When my vines are cut and bound, only two to three branches remain standing. This naturally yields fewer grapes, but grapes of a better quality. It is said that each Riesling plant needs one square metre of room and on average one vine will produce one bottle of wine a year. Mosella And because the Riesling grows so well here, the last Electoral Prince and Archbishop of Trier, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony, established a law saying that only Riesling was to be planted along the Moselle. And so it was until the French Revolutionary Army chased the Electoral Princes away. Doctor Wine Nowadays, not only white wine grapes are planted along the Moselle, but some red wine grape varieties are planted, that produce excellent red wines, as well.