Germany

Mosel Saar Ruwer The Mosel river plus two of its tributaries make up the region commonly referred to as Mosel Saar Ruwer. An area regarded as the one producing the ultimate expression of the Riesling grape, with the Middle Mosel reigning supreme. This is an area where the river winds snake like revealing many different exposures with vines planted on soils composed of shattered slate rock. Incredibly steep vineyards, often on a 1 in 2 slope (50%), make the whole viticultural activity very labour intensive. In general wines from the Middle Mosel are lively, elegant and subtle, often with a slatey minerality. Wines from the Saar Ruwer tend to be more robust with a steely character.

Nahe The Nahe river is relatively short (less than 80 miles in length), flowing from the South West before joining the mighty Rhine at Bingen. The Nahe is characterised by two contrasting topographies. The lower section is cliff like scenery with predominantly volcanic soils and the upper section comprises broad, gentle valleys where the underlying soil is soft sedimentary layers. Situated just 50 kilometres south of the more famous Mosel, the valley benefits from 20% less rainfall and in combination with its soil structures produces some of the world’s finest and purest Rieslings.

Rheingau The Rheingau is most easily visualised as the point where the Rhein does a short stretch running East to West before taking a sharp right to return flowing Northwards to its mouth at Rotterdam. On the Eastern side of this stretch is where the Main river joins and on the Western Side it's the Nahe river's turn to join in. The impressive wall of vineyards running high and parallel to the Rhine is where the majority of the best wines of the region are produced.