Mönchhof

The Mönchhof (the “Monks House or Monks Court”), formerly a possession of the Cistercian Abbey at Himmerod, is one of the oldest wine estates in the Mosel valley. As early as 1177, documents from Pope Alexander III show the abbey owned vineyards in and around the village of Ürzig. Three centuries after the monks built the vaulted cellars, which are still in use today, the monks also completed the estate manor in 1509. After the secularization period, the Eymael family purchased the estate from Napoleon in 1804 at an auction in Paris. The Mönchhof’s first class vineyards are comprised of the very steep Ürzig Würzgarten, Erden Treppchen and a core holding in one of the most prized jewels in the Mosel valley, the Erden Prälat vineyard. They are planted 100% to Riesling, all with original rootstocks. In 2016, Robert Eymael, the sixth generation of the family Eymael, sold the winery to an investor. But he still manages the winery with his cellar and vineyard master Philippe ConzenÜrziger WürzgartenThis is the only vineyard in the whole wine growing region that has a volcanic soil in combination with red slate soil (rhyolithe), which can only be found in this part of the Mosel valley. The Mönchhof estate is surrounded by the Würzgarten vineyard. Ürzig is the village name and Würzgarten the name of the single vineyard. It means “spicy garden”. It produces wines which show deep complexity, exotic flavors, and a variety of spice notes. What is also special about the vineyard are the extremely old vines. While phylloxera destroyed most European vineyards in the 1860, the vineyards in the Middle Mosel region survived because of their rocky soil, where the small insect could not get in to eat the roots of the vines. So today you find some of the world oldest vines in this region and Mönchhof have vines that are up to 100 years old.Erdener TreppchenThis single vineyard has a blue slate soil. Erden is the village name and Treppchen the name of the single vineyard. “Treppchen” means “little staircase”. This vineyard was named after the stairs that winemakers had to build into the vineyards hundreds of years ago. The vineyard is so steep that it is difficult for the winemakers to work in the hill and to carry the grapes out of the vineyard. But the steeper the vineyard the better it is. Because of the cool climate, the steep vineyards get more sunshine, so it comes to no surprise that you find some of the world’s steepest vineyards in the Mosel region.Erdener Prälat Erden is the village name and Prälat the name of the single vineyard. It is on a steep slope and facing full south with near perfect exposure to the sun. It presents a unique terroir blending blue-grey slate elements of the Erdner Treppchen with red (iron oxide) elements more typical of Ürzig. Most of the vineyard is planted with very old (60-100 years old) un-grafted vines.