Location and context
The Würzlay is a legally registered single vineyard in the municipality of Lehmen in the wine-growing region Mosel and in the area of Burg Cochem. It stretches for more than two kilometres along the Mosel, from the southern edge of the town of Lehmen towards the Ausoniusstein nature reserve near Kattenes. The wine sites directory 2024 lists, in the Lehmen cadastral area, 4.8 hectares of planted vineyard area under the wine site number 440526.
Terraces and natural landscape
The Würzlay is characterised predominantly as terraced steep slope, with documented gradients of up to 70 to 80 percent. The historical wine-growing landscape includes terraces, natural rock formations, dry-stone walls and stone vineyard steps. The south-east-facing slopes receive morning and midday sun; slate terraces and rocks store heat and shape a locally favourable wine-growing climate.
Geology and cultivation
The Devonian parent rock consists of quartzite sandstone, siltstone and slate, occurring closely interrelated spatially. As a result, quartzite and slate weathering soils developed with different properties and usually a high proportion of coarse rock constituents; historical descriptions also mention greywacke weathering material. For the Würzlay, single-post training and wire training have been documented.
History and wines
The Würzlay is one of the historical wine-growing landscapes of the Mosel. Its name is derived from the Middle High German term for a herb garden. In the Razejungewingert section there are 14 terrace levels with historical dry-stone walls and stone staircases. Selected former vineyard terraces are tended with lavender and heat-loving herbs in order to counter overgrowth. In the Würzlay parcels of the named wineries, Riesling is documented. The Riesling wines offered from this range from dry via finely off-dry to sweet, and include Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese.
