VDP.ESTATE
FRITZ HAAG

VDP:What is so special about your winery?

Oliver Haag: Riesling, steep slopes, handcraft – that’s what our wine estate has been made of for generations. The focus is on our VDP.GROSSE LAGE® vineyards JUFFER and JUFFER SONNENUHR. Both are directly south-facing slate sites right on the bank of the Moselle River. Due to their unique microclimates, each year they give us great Rieslings that are inimitable throughout the world.

VDP:What is your winery philosophy?

Oliver Haag: First and foremost, a good wine is made in the vineyard. That’s why we all put so much effort into the care of our steep slate slopes and into the selective manual harvest. What is especially important to us here, is very natural and sustainable management. This is the cornerstone for our inimitable and elegant Rieslings.

VDP:For what wine style do you strive?

Oliver Haag: We live and love Riesling. Delicate, fruity, elegant wines with slate character that have plenty of finesse. Wines that offer abundant enjoyment today and never give you the feeling of missing something, yet simultaneously wines that have tremendous potential for the future.

VDP:Which of your wines would you recommend to someone who does not yet know your winery– as an introduction, so to speak?

Oliver Haag: That’s easy to answer: The ‘feinherb’ (off-dry) VDP.GUTSWEIN stands for everything that makes up our terroir. Delicate fruit, fine slate minerality, acidity and subtle fruit sweetness in an exquisite balancing act. Light and playful and with magnificent freshness – this cannot be copied anywhere else in the world. Simply a typical ‘Möselchen’.

VDP:Of which wine are you particularly proud?

Oliver Haag: I find it difficult to highlight a single wine. I’m simply delighted when we succeed in bringing the authentic slate character and classic Mosel style into the bottle.

VDP:Why did you become a vintner?

Oliver Haag: Since I grew up with winegrowing, it never occurred to me to do anything else. I love the work in the cellar and in the vineyard, contacts with our customers, the exchange of ideas about wine. To accompany the vines and their development in harmony with nature throughout the seasons is worth the effort for me every day.

VDP:Do you have role models?

Oliver Haag: Of course, my father Wilhelm Haag. I greatly admire what he has achieved and influenced. You couldn’t wish for a better teacher!

VDP:What are your next goals?

Oliver Haag: Every new year spurs us on to give our best again. We would like to pass this enthusiasm on to our children and inspire them for the wine estate and its history.

VDP:Do you hold on to traditions, if so to which?

Oliver Haag: The world turns and some traditions are rightly tossed aside. But what has made the Mosel so special for 2000 years is winegrowing and Riesling. This is exactly what we live with today. In principle, this is very traditional.

VDP:Why should people visit your winery?

Oliver Haag: Personal contact is always direct and genuine. This is of course a good reason to visit us, along with our Rieslings. The terrace at the JUFFER SONNENUHR offers an unforgettable experience. Drinking a wine there, grown in the soil on which you are standing always comprises a special moment!