Weingut Max Ferd. Richter - Mülheimer Helenenkloster vineyard

The Mülheimer Helenenkloster vineyard and its Eisweins

The Mülheimer Helenenkloster vineyard is a monopoly to the MAX FERD.RICHTER RIESLING-ESTATE and covering two acres it counts within the smallest single-vineyards confirmed by the 1971 wine-law.

Small as it is - the Burgundy Gran Cru "La Romanée" in Vosne-Romanée has got exactly the same size - the Helenenkloster vineyard can trace back a long and impressive history. Count Gerlach IV. of Veldenz presented the vineyard on April 30, 1245 to the nearby Convent, from which it took its name "Helenenkloster". Being part of the family holdings since 1813 the vineyard was given in 1867 in partition of inheritance to a related estate and bought back by Max Ferd. Richter in 1909.

The Helenenkloster hill, overlooking the village Mülheim, is showing a south-western exposition and the grey slate stone has got there a deep and humid structure thus giving ideal conditions for the Riesling grape. In 1964 the vineyard had been replanted using the Riesling-clone 356, that produces very compact bunches and high quality grapes.

Since 1961 the RICHTER-ESTATE tries to produce Eiswein in the Helenenkloster. In order to ensure the ripe grapes are still frozen when they arrive in the press-house, the nearest site - the Helenenkloster - was selected and is usually left partially unpicked in the hope of Eiswein-production. At least -7 degree Celsius are necessary to freeze the grapes. The lower the temperature the higher the concentration of sugar, acidity and extracts in the grapes and subsequently the more valuable the grape-must. The minimum Oechsle-mustweight required has to be equivalent to a Riesling-Beerenauslese.

The harvesting of an Eiswein often calling for picking by floodlight in the small hours is a dramatic business. By the winter, grape gathering has lost whatever charm it originally enjoyed, and a dedicated team of pickers is needed to bring in the frozen bunches. Thus the risk of Eiswein-production is very high and amongst all those imponderabilities for failure the quantities available are tiny.

The Eisweins from the Mülheimer Helenenkloster are a speciality of the RICHTER-ESTATE. The estate did produce Eiswein from as many as 22 vintages. The 1976 Eiswein was the only in the Mosel, and in 1986 this tradition was maintained with a fabulous Eiswein gathered on Christmas-Day, December 25th. The most recent 1998 Eiswein was harvested on November 21st, only 10 months later than the 1997 icewine, that was picked as late as the 28th of January 1998.