Location and orientation
The Hühnerberg vineyard lies in Traben-Trarbach in the Kautenbachtal, a side valley of the Mosel. The concave, amphitheatre-like site, oriented from south-southeast to south-southwest, warms up quickly during the day and cools down rapidly at night.
Terraces and soils
Hühnerberg is an extremely steep, heavily terraced vineyard site with around four hectares of vine area. The terraces cannot be worked with conventional viticulture equipment and are tended mostly by hand. Documented are blue, grey and brown slate soils, as well as brown, quartz-containing material.
Vines and wine styles
Riesling is the most important documented grape variety. In individual holdings, around 90 percent of the vineyard area is given over to Riesling and 10 percent to Spätburgunder. The Rieslings are made dry, fine off-dry, late-harvested and developed into noble-sweet wines. In plots, there are old vines, mostly own-rooted, with a documented age of about 50 to 100 years.
History and cultivation
In the 1897 Mosel classification map, Hühnerberg was placed in the highest category. After phases of being left fallow, partial areas were brought back into cultivation, abandoned sections were cleared, terraces were reconstructed and sections planted anew with Riesling. For grapes from Hühnerberg, slow pressing in traditional basket presses, spontaneous fermentation and ageing in wooden casks are documented.
