Saar

The Saar is the cooler, more uncompromising sister valley to the Mosel, covering about 750 hectares. Here the most delicate Rieslings in the world are made – often just 7-9% abv, with razor-sharp acidity and a characteristic smoky, sometimes called "Saar dew" minerality. The Scharzhofberg in Wiltingen is the most famous site – there Egon Müller-Scharzhof, the only German member of "Primum Familiae Vini", produces the world's most expensive Rieslings. Alongside, Van Volxem (Roman Niewodniczanski), Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken (in Saarburg, with the famous slate site Saarburger Rausch) and Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt define the level. The Saar is one of the coolest Riesling regions worldwide – only in the best vintages do grapes ripen fully here.