Summary
Weingut Loersch is a small, highly regarded family estate on the Middle Mosel. The winery itself stands in Leiwen on the Zummethöhe, but the decisive vineyards lie on the opposite bank in Trittenheim – first and foremost in the steep site Trittenheimer Apotheke. The family can trace its winegrowing back to 1640; Alexander Loersch runs the estate today in the 13th generation. Across roughly eight hectares he makes almost nothing but Riesling: spontaneously fermented, shaped by Devonian slate, across the full spectrum from dry through off-dry to nobly sweet. One caveat when searching: this estate is not to be confused with Loersch-Eifel, also based in Trittenheim, or with Weingut Josef Rosch.
History
The estate's roots run deep: the Loersch family's winegrowing can be traced back to the year 1640 – almost four centuries of family tradition that the winery now carries proudly in its name. For generations the business stayed small and worked, as is typical on the Mosel, the steep slopes around Trittenheim and Piesport.
The decisive turn comes with the youngest generation. Alexander Loersch, a trained viticulture technician, took over responsibility for ageing the wines in the cellar in 2002 – at first alongside his father Ernst-Albrecht Loersch, who ran the business until 2008. In 2009 Alexander took over the estate entirely, making him the 13th generation at its head. Within a few years he brought national attention to what had been a largely regional name: the German Riesling Producer Award 2013 and the title of best German producer at the Austrian Wine Challenge 2012 made the name Loersch known well beyond the Mosel. In parallel the vineyard area grew from a few hectares to today's roughly eight – mainly through parcels in the very best steep sites.
Location & Terroir
The estate is based in Leiwen on the Zummethöhe, a ridge with sweeping views over the Mosel loop at Leiwen and Trittenheim. The vineyards themselves are spread across some of the most prominent sites of the Middle Mosel.
Defining is the blue Devonian slate, complemented by grey slate with quartzite inclusions. This soil stores warmth, releases it back to the vines at night and forces the roots deep into the fissures in the rock – the basis for the saline, smoky minerality that makes Mosel Riesling unmistakable worldwide.
Around half of the area lies on genuine steep slopes that can only be worked by hand. The old vine holdings are particularly valuable: in individual parcels stand partly ungrafted vines of up to around 100 years, plants that survived the phylloxera catastrophe. They yield little but root extremely deep and deliver grapes of great concentration. The cool climate of the Mosel valley ensures long ripening phases and the fine, load-bearing acidity that keeps these wines alive for decades.
Style & Philosophy
Alexander Loersch works in a markedly restrained, terroir-driven way. The principles are clear: selective hand harvesting, gentle grape processing, spontaneous fermentation with the wild yeasts of the vineyard, long lees ageing and as little intervention in the cellar as possible. In the vineyard the estate forgoes mineral fertiliser and relies on natural ground cover to preserve soil life and biodiversity.
The goal is not a cellar style but origin in the glass: wines that make the difference between two parcels of the same site audible. Accordingly, Loersch bottles individual parcels of the Trittenheimer Apotheke separately. Stylistically the estate stays true to Mosel tradition and plays the full range: dry Rieslings with clear, slender contours, off-dry (feinherb) wines with drinkability, and fruity-sweet Kabinett and Spätlese wines often under 12% vol. alcohol – plus, in suitable years, nobly sweet Auslesen up to Beeren- and Trockenbeerenauslese. The small Spätburgunder share rounds out the range without diluting the Riesling focus.
Notable Sites & Wines
The core of the estate lies in the Trittenheimer Apotheke, one of the most significant and best-known steep sites on the Mosel. Further top sites complete the picture:
- Trittenheimer Apotheke – the heart of the estate; separately bottled parcels such as Jungheld and Vogelsang as well as the Fels-Terrassen
- Trittenheimer Altärchen – the neighbouring steep site, somewhat more approachable and floral in style
- Piesporter Goldtröpfchen – famous south-facing site with especially lush fruit aromatics
- Dhroner Hofberg – cooler, markedly mineral site in the side valley of the Dhron
- Neumagener Rosengärtchen – small site on the Mosel, often in the range as a finely fruity Kabinett
Within the Apotheke, Loersch treats the old vines with particular care; the old-vine Spätlese from this site is among the estate's most closely watched wines. The business also includes a small guest house on the Zummethöhe, so a visit can easily be combined with a tasting.
Awards
For an estate of this size the trophy cabinet is remarkable. Alexander Loersch received the German Riesling Producer Award in 2013 and was named best German wine producer at the Austrian Wine Challenge 2012. Added to this are the State Honorary Prize for wine quality and the Rhineland-Palatinate Regional Honorary Prize.
The major wine guides rate the estate consistently highly too: Eichelmann and Gault&Millau list Loersch with four stars or in the top group, Vinum with around three and a half stars; Der Feinschmecker and Falstaff have also honoured the estate. At the Riesling-Champion 2020 the estate came third overall, with the Trittenheimer Apotheke Spätlese from old vines taking second place. The Vinum wine guide also regularly counts Loersch among the best off-dry Rieslings in Germany.