Location and natural setting
Wiltingen lies in the Saar valley on the lower Saar and belongs to the wine-growing region Mosel. The Wiltinger Saarbogen is a natural oxbow of the Saar and has been designated as a nature reserve.
Vine growing on the steep slope
The vineyards are on steep slopes and, according to the municipality, benefit from a favourable local microclimate. Their soils are described as mineral slate soils. Wiltingen is regarded as the largest wine-growing municipality on the Saar and as the centre of Riesling cultivation in the region.
Sites and wines
Wiltingen’s sites from Van Volxem include, among others, Gottesfuß, Kupp, Braunfels, Scharzhofberger and Scharzhofberger Pergentsknopp; they are listed with the VDP as VDP.GROSSE LAGE®. The Wiltingen Gottesfuß Riesling grows on weathered red and grey Devonian slate soils. The wine Wiltingen Gottesfuß Alte Reben is classified as a dry Riesling GG.
History and winery culture
Wiltingen was first documented in 1030 as “Wiltinga”. In the area of today’s church, a Roman manor house is also evidenced. In the Middle Ages, several monasteries owned estates and farm holdings in and around Wiltingen, including the Prüm Abbey, the Benedictine abbey of St. Marien in Trier, and the Mettlach Abbey. Van Volxem’s estate lies in the historic town centre and developed from a former Luxembourg Jesuit monastery wine cellar with larger Saar vineyard plots dating from the early 18th century. In the vineyard, the winery works, among other things, with organic soil care, manual work with the leaves, thinning, and grape splitting; the average harvest yield is stated as about 40 hl/ha.
