8/10/26 - 

It has been a few years now since Daniel Vollenweider tragically passed away, and with the current release of 2024 dry and 2025 pradikat wines we are starting to see the first few changes that Moritz and Vinzent have made. These changes are ones that I believe bring more clarity to the wines and labeling then in the past, but changes aside, the wines are as delicious as ever. I am excited to provide an opportunity for you to dig deep into the beauty that is the Goldgrube vineyard: from praditkat wines, to single vineyard trocken, there is something here for Riesling lovers alike. 

Moritz Hoffmann has been a partner in the estate since 2019 when Daniel first became sick and knew he needed help. Moritz provided a strong future for the winery, but upon Daniel's passing quickly realized that he also needed help and in 2025 brough on Vinzent Ewest to be his equal partner. The two knew each other well as Vinzent worked at Vollenweider in 2018 and 2020, before doing a stint at de Montille from 2021-2023 and returning to Vollenweider part-time from 2023-2024. Back to full time in 2025, this release showcases the first of the two working as a team. The most noticeable change you will see from the outside are the new labels. Stephen of Vom Boden shared that, "Moritz has said he just wanted them to be raw, rough – like their style. Almost a punk-rock DIY aesthetic, like they just came off the fax machine" I think they fit the bill well with that. 

With this release you will notice that Felsenfest is no longer part of the lineup. That wine is now called "Mosel Riesling", a much simpler name that gets straight to the point, it is exactly what it says it is, a appellation level wine. I tasted the 2025 Mosel Riesling Trocken recently and wow! What a delicious, mineral, vibrant wine, perfect for these warm summer days we are having. Next, since almost all their holdings are in Goldgrube or separately named as single-vineyard wines, they have eliminated the "Wolfer" village level bottling so they no longer are declassifying Grand Cru fruit.  

This brings us to the bulk of Vollenweider's vineyards and the wines available today. Aside from the 2025 Mosel Riesling Trocken, everything else comes from the Grand Cru Goldgrube vineyard. Vollenweider farms 4.8 hectares here (Goldgrube is only 7 ha total) and have plots across the Grand Cru. This breaks down into three pradikat and 4 trocken wines. The pradikat are a bit simpler so let's start there, for 2025 there is Goldgrube Kabinett, Goldgrube Spatlese, as well as a Goldgrube Kabinett Wurzelecht. The first two are exactly what you expect while the Wurzelecht shows that it was sourced from the oldest, ungrafted vines in the vineyard, more on this later...

The Trocken wines are from the 2024 vintage having spent additional time aging before release and come from three subplots of Goldgrube. First is Unterste Jonspfad, which translates to under the path of Jon, referring to a path that goes through the vineyard to where the ferry used to be. It is the westernmost site in Goldgrube and sits directly next to Schimbock. This site was entirely replanted by Daniel with selection massale cuttings from Goldgrube and Schimbock. It is a cool site with fine soil and produces the juiciest of the dry Rieslings. Next is Im Schottel which is derived from the German word for debris. This relates to the massive stone cliff above the vineyard and the rocks that frequently drop into the vineyard causing a much stonier soil. Lastly is Im Reiler which is an area that contains some of the oldest vines and can be compared to the previous bottling of Goldgrube Grand Cru. In great vintages like '24, they also make an Im Reiler Wurzelecht which is sourced (just like with the Kabinett) from the oldest, ungrafted vines anywhere between 80-150 years old. If you're familiar with the Aurum bottling in the past, this is the closest comparison. Click here to enjoy a video and audio tour of the vineyard of Vollenweider, courtesy of our friends at Vom Boden.

There is not another chance that I can think of to taste such unique and singular sites across the Grand Cru vineyard of Goldgrube. I designed today's offer to allow you to choose your own journey through these vines with a comprehensive offering of these 7 wines plus the Mosel Riesling as a fun bonus. But whether you plan to open Kabinett and Spatlese together, or Wurzelecht next to a non-Wurzelecht bottling of the same vineyard, there is no wrong way to approach these wines. At the end of the day, they are all impeccable wines meant to be opened and enjoyed amongst friends.

-Hanna Krilov Cohen

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