Summary
The Schloss Lieser estate today ranks among the most sought-after Riesling addresses of the Mosel. It owes its reputation to winemaker Thomas Haag, who took over the then badly run-down estate in 1992 and bought it in 1997. On around 25 hectares – almost exclusively Riesling – he produces uncompromisingly precise, long-lived wines from the steep slopes of the Middle Mosel, above all the Lieser Niederberg Helden. The range runs from dry Große Gewächse through off-dry Kabinett and Spätlese wines to the nobly sweet peaks. In 2015 Thomas Haag was named Winemaker of the Year by Gault&Millau – testament to a rise that turned a derelict castle cellar into one of the region's showpiece estates.
History
The eponymous Schloss Lieser, a Neo-Renaissance building, was erected around 1875 for the industrialist Eduard Puricelli. From 1904 it served as a pressing house for the estates of Baron von Schorlemer, before the business slid into decline in the 1970s.
The turning point came in 1992: Thomas Haag took over the management of the then only roughly six-hectare, neglected estate. In 1997 he and his wife Ute bought the winery and began to steer it consistently towards quality. Haag comes from one of the Mosel's defining winegrowing families – his father Wilhelm Haag made the neighbouring Fritz Haag estate in Brauneberg world-famous. In the following years Thomas Haag expanded the vineyard area and secured parcels in some of the finest steep slopes of the Middle Mosel. The former restoration case thus became one of the region's most highly rated estates.
Location & Terroir
Schloss Lieser lies in the municipality of Lieser on the Middle Mosel, a few kilometres upstream from Bernkastel-Kues. The defining feature is the Devonian slate of the Mosel's steep slopes: it stores the day's warmth, forces the vines to root deeply and gives the wines their unmistakable, salty-mineral note.
The heart is the steep Lieser Niederberg Helden vineyard, of which Thomas Haag farms a significant share. Added to this are parcels in further top sites of the neighbouring villages. The extreme slope gradient, the cool Mosel climate and the old, in part ungrafted vines are the foundation for wines with fine acidity, density and great ageing potential – with low yields and demanding hand labour.
Style & Philosophy
Thomas Haag works in a markedly traditional and restrained way in the cellar: gentle handling, long lees ageing and a style that puts the origin of the vineyard in the foreground. His wines are geared towards precision and longevity and cover the full spectrum of Mosel Riesling.
The range runs from dry Großes Gewächs through off-dry Kabinett and Spätlese wines to the nobly sweet Prädikats – all the way to Beeren- and Trockenbeerenauslese as well as Eiswein in suitable vintages. Characteristic is the clear, cool style: instead of opulence, finesse, tension and minerality take centre stage. A small holding of Spätburgunder complements the Riesling-dominated programme.
Well-known Vineyards & Wines
The range is clearly tiered by origin: from accessible estate Rieslings through village wines to the single-vineyard Rieslings from the finest steep slopes. Among the estate's best-known vineyards are:
- Lieser Niederberg Helden – the core and flagship site of the estate
- Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr – one of the most famous vineyards of the Middle Mosel
- Bernkasteler Doctor – legendary steep slope above Bernkastel-Kues
- Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Graacher Domprobst – classics of the Middle Mosel
- Piesporter Goldtröpfchen – filigree Riesling from the Piesport amphitheatre
The Große Gewächse and the nobly sweet Auslesen from these vineyards regularly rank among the most highly rated Rieslings of the Mosel.
Awards
The rise of Schloss Lieser is reflected in the leading wine guides: Gault&Millau named Thomas Haag Winemaker of the Year in 2015 and lists the estate in its highest category; at Eichelmann and Falstaff, too, Schloss Lieser consistently ranks among the top producers of the Mosel. Within just a few decades the estate has thus developed from a restoration case into a fixture at the top of German Riesling.