Hofgut Falkenstein Niedermenniger Sonnenberg Riesling Kabinett Trocken 'Munny' 2023

In 1981, Erich and Maria Weber purchased an abandoned press house and cellar in a side valley of the Saar to fashion terroir-driven Rieslings with the greatest respect to tradition.

Gradually building up their vineyard holdings around the winery to include prized historic sites in Krettnach, Niedermennig, and Grand Cru Euchariusberg, the couple now farm 13ha of slopes considered among Germany’s finest sources of old-vine Riesling.

Top-quality organic grapes are harvested by hand in multiple tries before being crushed under foot and slowly fermented with natural yeasts in individually 1000-litre fuders. Bottled cask-by-cask – a practice that has been rare since the 1970s – Falkenstein’s crystalline, mineral wines burst with energy and mouth-watering acidity.

Since joining the estate in 2015, the Webers’ son Johannes (like his father, a graduate of Germany’s prestigious Geisenheim University) has taken Falkenstein to further heights and acquired a devoted following for wines that have become even finer and more precise.