Erdener Prälat

Prälat rises rocky, steep and fissured opposite the Mosel village of Erden, with bare red stone showing between vines that cling to the slope in small plots. The slope runs to around 65 degrees (210 percent), and German sites are only rarely steeper. The vines stand between 110 and 220 metres above sea level on a purely south-facing slope, and the small, partly barren terraces are planted exclusively in traditional single-stake training. Set on the steep slopes of the Middle Mosel, the site is a narrow strip of steep vineyard squeezed between the river and huge red slate rocks in the bend of a large Mosel loop.

• Opposite the village of Erden
• Slope of around 65 degrees (210 percent)
• Vines between 110 and 220 metres above sea level
• Terraces planted exclusively in single-stake training

The soil is iron-rich red slate with a clay component, a weathered red slate with a relatively high rock content. The microclimate is warm, thanks to shelter from the Mosel loop and the surrounding vineyards, intense sunshine on the purely south-facing slope, and massive heat-storing rock. The rocks absorb warmth by day and radiate it at night, and the river adds its large reservoir of water. Sheltered between rock massifs and the river, the site has a microclimate of its own. Karl Erbes, which farms the site, finds that the vines here bud and flower earlier than anywhere else in the Middle Mosel, with ripeness levels in most vintages at the top of the whole region.

• Iron-rich red slate with clay
• Warmth from the Mosel loop, full southern exposure and heat-storing rock
• Earlier budburst and flowering than anywhere else in the Middle Mosel, in Karl Erbes's experience
• Weathered red slate with a relatively high rock content

Prälat once belonged to the Treppchen and was demarcated as a separate site at the end of the 19th century, when the new name honoured Prälat Professor Dr. Franz Steffens (1853-1930), a winegrower's son from Ürzig. Today it is a VDP.Grosse Lage, with Riesling as the classified variety and 1.63 hectares of classified area. The VDP's Mosel regional association does without the VDP.Erste Lage tier. Dr. Loosen has been a VDP member since 1993. Decanter ranks the Mosel's Grosse Lagen as equivalent to grands crus.

• Formerly part of the Treppchen; demarcated at the end of the 19th century
• Named for Prälat Professor Dr. Franz Steffens (1853-1930)
• VDP.Grosse Lage, 1.63 hectares classified for Riesling
• No VDP.Erste Lage tier in the Mosel

Dr. Loosen is the VDP member working Prälat and calls it "unquestionably our finest vineyard". The sheltered site yields outstanding dry Rieslings as well as high-quality Auslesen and botrytis selections every year, in the estate's own account. Its range includes a 2019 Erdener Prälat Riesling dry GG Réserve, from a line harvested from the best parcels of very old, ungrafted vines in Grand Cru vineyards, and an Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. Erdener Prälat is one of Dr. Loosen's six Grosse Lage holdings. Mönchhof and Markus Molitor list Prälat among their vineyards; Karl Erbes picked its first Prälat harvest with the 2012 vintage; and Schmitges lists a 2023 Erdener Prälat GG and a 2022 Erdener Prälat Réserve feinherb.

• Dr. Loosen: dry Rieslings, Auslesen and botrytis selections from the site
• Dr. Loosen range includes a 2019 Erdener Prälat Riesling dry GG Réserve and an Auslese Goldkapsel
• Mönchhof, Markus Molitor, Karl Erbes and Schmitges also name the site among their vineyards or wines
• Karl Erbes: first Prälat harvest with the 2012 vintage

The Roman wine presses in Erden sit at the foot of a biodiversity "Leuchtpunkt" named "Erdener Prälat/Treppchen & Ürziger Sonnenuhr", a project of the Lebendige Moselweinberge initiative, featured in a 2018 film premiered at the presses. The rocks at the boundary between Erden and Ürzig are home to the extremely rare rock bunting and the eagle owl, and the Erdener Klettersteig climbing trail lets visitors experience the area up close. A one-hour boat ride from Bernkastel-Kues reaches the steep red slates of Ürziger Würzgarten and Erdener Prälat, where visitors can disembark to see the ruins of an ancient Roman wine press near Erden.

• Erden's Roman wine presses sit at the foot of the "Erdener Prälat/Treppchen & Ürziger Sonnenuhr" biodiversity Leuchtpunkt
• Rock bunting and eagle owl live in the rocks at the Erden and Ürzig boundary
• Roman wine press ruins near Erden, reachable by boat from Bernkastel-Kues

Primary sources (VDP Weinberg.Online, Moselwein e.V. at weinland-mosel.de, and the own sites of Dr. Loosen, Mönchhof, Markus Molitor, Karl Erbes and Schmitges): https://www.vdp.de/de/die-weine/weinbergonline/lage/4096-praelat-vdpgrosse-lage, https://drloosen.de/en/collections/erdener-pralat, https://drloosen.de/collections/erdener-pralat, https://moenchhof.de/weinberge/erdener-praelat, https://markusmolitor.com/lagen, https://weingut-karlerbes.de/, https://schmitges-weine.de/produkt-kategorie/lagenwein, https://www.weinland-mosel.de/de/aktuelles/show/fachleute-bewerten-23er-spitzenweine-von-der-mosel, https://www.weinland-mosel.de/de/aktuelles/show/mosel-leuchtpunkt-strahlt-bis-zum-meer. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/premium/dr-loosen-profile-401480/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/the-middle-mosel-for-wine-lovers-520200/. Last verified 2026-10-05