To start right away with the wines: I really liked the 2021 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett dry with pleasant 10.5% alcohol - which isn’t easy to get by a winemaker, and to which I noted: Fine fruit from which great elegance rises; on the palate minerality packed in abundance with a lot of profile, which I rated with 93 bonvinitas points. More about the points below.

Our upper limit is 12% alcohol

The warmth and great sympathy that you feel right at the beginning should be emphasized. So it is not surprising that senior Martin Kerpen acts as "president" of DER RING Mosel 1899 e.V. And so it is also fitting that he has handed over the winery’s scepter to his son Matthias Kerpen, who emphasizes the smart alcohol content: "Our upper limit is 12%!" Which can certainly be considered the profile of the house. Asked how he does it: "We just are just harvesting early and don't let the sugar rise too high. In any case, we have been harvesting everything by hand."

In 1997, the more than 220-year-old winery moved from the centre of the village to the beautiful villa with very suitable wine cellars directly on the banks of the Moselle with a magnificent view of the steep slopes opposite, which are considered the longest "Grand Cru steep slope" on the Moselle and include the Wehlener Sonnenuhr, the Graacher Domprobst and the Graacher Himmelreich, in which the 9.5 hectares of the estate Kerpen are almost exclusively located. Matthias: "Around three hectares are still planted with stakes and the vines are largely ungrafted and 80 to 100 years old." Riesling is predominantly grown and around 70,000 bottles are produced annually, which proves a restrained production of around 5,500 litre/hectar.

I would like to mention other good wines:

• The Gutswein 2023 Blauschiefer Riesling, 11%: Fine citrus aromas on the nose, beautifully integrated acidity, very elegant – 93 bonvinitas points

• 2023 Wehlener Sonnenuhr 'Alte Reben' (ungrafted) Riesling Spätlese dry, 12%: Ripe aroma, hints of dried fruit; a lot of melting on the palate

• 2018 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese*, 7.5%: Great drop, the scent jumps out at you; on the palate a great elegance enveloped by sweetness. 96 bonvinitas points

• 2003 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese*, 8%: Wonderfully ripe freshness and fine fruit – another 20 years! 95 bonvinitas points

Matthias: "We label predicate wines with a particular complexity with a star, while the others focus on the drinking flow. Of course, everything is fermented spontaneously. Dry years bring less acidity, wet ones more, but this is well buffered by the higher minerality. That's not how we regulate acidity."

KOLLEKTION KERPEN

Particularly noteworthy is the "KERPEN COLLECTION" with artist's label, currently 2023 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett feinherb, 10%. Every year, a label is designed by artists, in 2023 by Alexandra Schmiedebach, of whom an exhibition can be visited in the winery until 8.9.2024. And also a beautiful drop: Very catchy and of high elegance, which allows you to experience an almost dry finish.

As to the points

www.weingut-kerpen.de

Text und Fotos: Dieter Simon, Herausgeber bonvinitas