Clara Dalzell is just back from Germany with a tasting report on the best of Mosel wine. Read on for her notes on 40 bottles from five producers you need to try.

To read the accompanying piece about Clara’s visit to the Mosel, its history and its present, click here.

Weingut Knebel, Winningen (Moselterrassen)

Mathias Knebel is a young philosopher whose words and wines belie an old soul. He’s making gorgeous honest wines, with an incredible elegance. His 2023s are arriving in the U.S. soon; 2022 prices are listed.

2023 Weingut Knebel Riesling ($30)

Salted ripe peach, orange pith, lemon balm, juicy mango—the fruit has a bursting quality. A slightly grippy texture, like wax on slate, and dusty phenolics, but not bitter or dense. Fine balance, with just a touch of sweetness; finishes dry. Sourced from flat and steep slopes. A crazy good entry-level wine.

2023 Weingut Knebel Röttgen Kabinett ($34)

Lovely, fresh, light, slightly peachy, pithy and delicate. 8.5% ABV. A real gem, year after year.

2023 Weingut Knebel Von den Terrassen ($40)

There’s a super juicy quality to its white peach, green lime, and lemon. Very slate-y, creamy, yeasty, with phenolics that scrub your tongue, but an overall delicate wine with a dry finish. 12% ABV, all from terraced sites grown on slate.

2023 Weingut Knebel Röttgen GG ($88)

For a young GG, I’m blown away. Like tasting all the Skittles, and full of intensely dry extract A steely core, wonderfully cooling and a very looooong finish. Crazy wine.

2022 Weingut Knebel Von den Terrassen “R” ($NA)

Spent a year longer in barrel, on the full lees, from a hot dry vintage. Richer, spicier, denser; slightly sweeter than the other cuvées.

Joh. Jos. Prüm, Wehlen (Mittelmosel)

Katarina Prüm, a rare female winemaker in the Mosel, is considered the best winzer (vigneron, in German) in a long line of lauded Prüms. These wines are often drinkers’ entry point into Mosel wine, and for good reason: they are very good, no matter the vintage. Their only fault, if you can even call it that, is they need time to really bloom—when these wines are young, they can feel a little closed off or reduced. Luckily, there are plenty of back vintages readily available.

2019 Joh. Jos. Prüm Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spätlese ($49)

Herbal, with rocks, bitter tangerine juice, mint, Listerine, white peaches, and yellow nectarine. From a 100 year old parcel of ungrafted vines; the millefeuille layers of fruit, stone, and minerality make that obvious.

2019 Joh Jos Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese ($49)

Graacher Himmelreich wines always show this kind of earthy, dry, stony minerality, before the fruit sets in. Lemongrass and flowers, and especially delicate for a 2019 (and for a Spät). Youthful but deep, and crazy delicious. I could drink this all day.

2015 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Auslese ($56)

Phenomenal. Lemon balm, white flowers, and a laser-like zippy acidity ripping through the yellow fruit. Full of energy and youthful, but elegant and astoundingly complex. And the finish won’t quit.

2020 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett ($57)

Fresh acidity, bright herbal notes, fresh cut grass, white peach, oranges, and—even at this early stage—dried orange peel and mushroom. As joyful as I remember the 2020s being and in a great place, with seamless structure.

2020 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese ($64)

This one made a believer out of the sweet wine skeptic that came with me to visit Prüm. Intense fruit notes, carried along by the cool, soft acid. The sugar sits all the way at the back of the wine—you hardly notice it. Earthy and herbal, with moss, strawberries, and forest floor.

2022 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett ($72)

Marmalade and tropical fruit, shaped by the luminous acidity and a dash of salt. Noticeable reduction, which is not surprising in a young Prüm.

2015 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese ($75)

Love this. A waxy texture, but already lighter in body and drier-tasting as it enters its tenth year. An elegant, sexy wine—like swimming in a cool natural spring, surrounded by forest and flowers and mushrooms popping out of moss-covered rocks.

2019 Joh. Jos. Prüm Berkastler Badstube Spätlese ($NA)

Chocolate, marmalade, candied saffron, mushrooms, crushable citrus, tutti frutti. Showing the broad shoulders of 2019 and the hot Badstube site, and already shedding some of its baby fat. Decadent and yummy now, but I’m really looking forward to where this will be in 20 years.

2003 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese ($95)

Delicious, deep, with a dark chocolate core. Remember when 2003 was the hottest year on record? Well, the acid here was no problem. 

2003 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese Gold Capsule ($168)

Gold Capsule is a designation some producers use to denote the use of botrytis berries in their wines. The capsule around the cork is the color of—yes, you guessed it. This is brighter and earthier than the “basic” Auslese. All the saffron, dried fruit, mushroom, cellar funk, distilled slate and seamless structure a girl could ask for. A little goes a long way, but damn—this is incredible wine.

Julian Haart, Piesport, (Mittelmosel)

All of these are barrel samples of the 2024 vintage, which were tasted in December 2024. (Pricing is for the 2023 vintage). Haart is a key figure in the Mosel’s next generation of winemakers, who all make wines in a decidedly pure, elegant, old-school, and restrained manner. Julian studied with the great Egon Müller and Klaus Peter Keller—arguably Germany’s greatest winemakers—and made wines that were instant classics. He and wife Nadine farm tiny parcels of mostly ancient vines, with mostly organic methods (though not certified) and their yields are miniscule. If you can get your hands on them, do. They are quintessential Mosel (along with one Rheinhessen), and never disappoint.  

2024 Julian Haart Pinot Noir ($NA)

Incredibly perfumed; surprising elegance. Boisterous young cherry tinged fruit, and enveloping silky tannin. A wine that feels like it's walked up to the edge of a cliff and dangles one toe over for a thrill, but stays restrained and controlled. Aged in a year-old used DRC barrel, from destemmed fruit.

2024 Julian Haart Riesling Rote Erden ($57)

From grapes farmed by Keller in Rheinhessen, picked and vinified by Julian and Nadine. Limestone purity soars through this. Lemon pith and lime zest, chalky minerality, bursting with intensity. 

2024 Julian Haart Riesling Piesporter ($59)

Yellow and golden tropical fruit—but understated, rather than dense. Yeastier than the rest. 

2024 Julian Haart Chardonnay ($NA)

Just gorgeous. Spikey/rough around the edges, but, oh baby, maybe we should all be drinking more Chardonnay from the Mosel. Harvested from the middle of the Goldtröpfchen, from young vines that replaced the Riesling which succumbed to Esca.

2024 Julian Haart Goldtröpfchen Kabinett ($84)

Licorice, anise seed, fennel fonds, fresh herbs, wild incense, saffron, spices, clove, cayenne, and tropical mango, orange skin and pineapple, all dancing on pointe. An incredible display of terroir.

2024 Julian Haart Goldtröpfchen Kabinett Old Vines (White Label) ($NA)

Amazing. What to say about a wine so perfect? Perfumed and fruity, but that all sits behind a wall of slate. Balanced acidity, a drizzle of sugar, complex with a lingering salty finish. 

2024 Julian Haart Grafenberg Kabinett ($NA)

From very old vines grown on red slate, from a very cold site in Piesport. Silky green fruit—kiwi, lime—and mineral for days and days; the finish won’t stop.

2024 Julian Haart Ohligsberg GG ($NA)

Never has a GG this young tasted so good. The core of acidity feels sharp enough to could cut you. Yummy, yummy, cooling tones, very dry powdery finish. 

2024 Julian Haart Ohligsberg Kabinett Old Vines (White Label) ($NA)

Colder and more mineral than the Goldtropfchen Kabinett White Label. Slate and acid. This one is going to need a while, but will be nothing but net. 

Hofgut Falkenstein, Konz-Niedermennig (Saar)

No one makes wine like the Webers of Hofgut Falkenstein. These are pure Saar—unadorned, racy, thrilling, and imperfectly perfect. Farming is mostly organic, wines are allowed to ferment until they stop. Usually to dryness, but sometimes not. Each barrel, some of which have nicknames (those appear in parentheses below), are bottled separately, a very old practice that’s practically unheard of today. In addition to the below, I tasted through 2024 barrel samples, though took no notes. Yields were down 90 percent in ‘24, so there will be almost no wine available. But my overall impression was lightning in a bottle; if you are an acid head, 2024 is your year. Hofgut Falkenstein was my group’s fourth stop on our third day of a whirlwind tour, so these notes are brief.

2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Kabinett Feinherb (Onkel Paul) ($31)

An almost painful acidity is tempered by a brush of sweetness. Slurpable. An electric finish.

2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Altenberg Spätlese Trocken ($36)

Richer than the Hölzchenwine. Spicy, lime skin, phenolics and lots of salt. 

2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Kabinett (Arthur) ($36)

This is beyond delicious. Intense. Sweet and salt. Ume plum, orange pith, lime zest, laser beams of silky acidity.

2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Auf dem Hölzchen Riesling Kabinett Trocken ($37)

Amazing. Super dry, searing limey acidity with zesty aromatics and a pithy quality. Salt, too. Very intense. 

2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Ockfener Bockstein Kabinett Alte Reben (Mia) ($45)

Waxy layers of minerality pooling at the bottom of the glass. Lovely touch of sweetness, intensely concentrated steely core of heady fruit, but with wispy edges, like a fog evaporating. A happy place.

2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Ober Schäfershaus Spätlese Trocken ($49)

Warmer-seeming than the other wines, and beautiful. Spicier, too. Lemon, lime—loved it.

2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Auslese (Forester) ($55)

My notes for this read “the most chuggable Auslese ever.”

Weingut Peter Lauer, Ayl (Saar)

Lauer is perhaps Prüm for the Mittelmosel, in that I find his wines to be the most approachable of the Saar, in terms of both style and pricing. Peter’s son Florian, now running the estate, is the winzer-historian who has rescued and replanted several vineyards around the region. Even by German standards, Lauer’s range is massive. From simple regional blends, off-dry-ish single vineyards, dry GG’s, the whole prädikat scale, plus sekt, it's a daunting portfolio. These wines are my favorite bottles of the 24 I tasted at the estate in December.

2023 Weingut Peter Lauer No. 6 Senior ($32)

Off-dry. Waxy, slate-y, and mineral. Sun-kissed peaches, salty lemon water, fresh white flowers—and very concentrated for a wine at this price. Young vines from all Grand Cru vineyards, and always a great deal.

2023 Weingut Peter Lauer No. 12 Unterstenberg ($47)

Off dry. Flinty, fruity, and fresh, and deeply concentrated. Piercing acidity, but very drinkable.

2023 Weingut Peter Lauer No. 9 Kern ($47)

Complex. Slate-y, with a deeper core, a taut structure, and more acid. More of everything, really, and incredibly young. It will need lots of time for the fruit to melt to the back, and its square edges to round into silk. Tropical citrus, sage, seaweed, thyme, jalepeño, lime zest, pithy, spicy all the flavors– and thirst quenching.

2023 Weingut Peter Lauer No.15 Stirn ($50)

Mandarin, dusty phenolics, youthful exuberance, citrus zest, and aromatics popping out. Tastes like the wind, or Care Bears bouncing on clouds. In a word: brilliant.

2023 Weingut Peter Lauer No. 17 Neunenberg ($55)

Leaner, and more mineral, with fresher acidity and  brighter, juicier fruit. Clean, pure, elegant and focused. 

2023 Weingut Peter Lauer No. 111 Schonfels Kabinett ($57)

Salt, fruit, mineral, acid, and elegance. Feels less sweet than the Kupp, which I tasted right before this. Smells like slate. From what’s  probably my favorite vineyard in Mosel—I always love this.

2023 Weingut Peter Lauer Fass 5 Ayler Kupp Kabinett ($NA)

Wowzers. Very young, searing acidity, crazy minerality, green pithiness, white pool of mineral water. Noticeable reduction at this stage. The back end is taut and clear, straight as an arrow. Three stars out of three.

2023 Weingut Peter Lauer Petit Ayl Auslese ($NA)

This is the “simple’ Auslese, but it's a full-on orchestra, and all the instruments are playing in perfect harmony. Supremely drinkable.