Location and classification
The Rüberberger Domherrenberg is a legally registered single vineyard site in the Mosel winegrowing region, area of Burg Cochem and Grosslage Goldbäumchen. The site extends across the municipalities of Briedern, Ellenz-Poltersdorf and Senheim. It lies opposite Briedern on the Mosel side of Ellenz-Poltersdorf.
Topography and soils
The 18.6-hectare site is developed as a terraced steep slope with more than 60 percent gradient. The slope, curving inward, is oriented from south to south-east. Intensive sunshine exposure shapes the documented site conditions; the terraced steep slope forms a partially enclosed area. The soils consist of shallow to medium-depth weathered slate and greywacke. In the Poltersdorfer parcels, red slate is also documented.
Grape variety and cultivation
The vineyard is planted exclusively with Riesling. After a land consolidation at the end of the 1990s, modern vineyard railways were installed and previously abandoned vineyard areas were replanted with Riesling. For the named parcels, terraced cultivation, a monorail system and cross-terrace wire frames are documented; the vines were planted there in 1967, 1996 and 2006.
Name and history
The name Rüberberg is provisionally traced back to a Latin term for oak. Domherrenberg therefore indicates former church-owned property. In 1970, the name was expanded from Domherrenberg to Rüberberger Domherrenberg in order to distinguish it from other Mosel vineyard sites with the name Domherrenberg.
Documented wine
A site wine documented for 2012 from the Poltersdorfer Rüberberger Domherrenberg was a fine, pleasantly off-dry Riesling with 24.6 grams of residual sugar per litre and 12.0% alcohol by volume. After wilting, the grapes were picked selectively, left on the mash for twelve hours, gently pressed and fermented at no more than 15 °C in a temperature-controlled stainless-steel tank. Until filtration in mid-March, the wine remained on full lees.
