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Weingut A. J. Adam is a young winery founded in 2000 and located in Neumagen-Dhron, in the Moselle. It is run by the winemakers Andreas Adam and Barbara Gudelj.
In the 1950s and ‘60s, the wines of Dhron Hofberg were famous, gracing the tables of fine restaurants. In the 1970s and ’80s, the new generation started to leave the vineyards and move to cities – a generation of Moslaners left their birthrights and many famous but small vineyards were left untended and became relics of the past. Growers in the village abandoned winemaking for work in larger cities, including Andreas’ parents. Adam re-started his family estate while still studying at Geisenheim University and interning at some of the great estates in Germany – Heymann-Löwenstein in the Wininngen, St. Urbans-Hof in Leiwen, and Van Volxem in the Saar. His first official vintage was in 2000 when he was just 21 years old, working a single hectare that was owned and farmed by his grandfather.
Joined by his younger sister Barbara in 2013, after her graduation from Geisenheim and a stint at Keller in Rheinhessen, the estate has taken its place as one of the very finest estates in the Mosel. The two siblings work side by side and are responsible for vineyards and cellar together. Andreas & Barbara farm 45 separate parcels on the Hofberg, Häs’chen and Goldtröpfchen in Piesport, in a full spectrum of styles from dry to sweet.
Today the winery has approximately 6.5 hectares of vineyards up to 114 years old, and located on the steep slopes on the banks of the river.
It vinifies with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks and large oak barrels to maintain the typical nature and character of its grapes.
Harvest is always done by hand, with a heavy selection in the vineyards. The wines are fermented using only ambient yeasts in old fuder (around 1000 liters) and halbfuder (around 500 liters) and stainless steel. The wines are often left in contact with the lees for an extended period of time after natural fermentation, but nothing is done by rote at the estate.
Just south of Piesport in a small side valley lies the steep, south-facing vineyards of Dhron, named for a tributary of the Mosel. The Dhronerthal (Dhron Valley) is a small tributary of the Mosel, running south, just after Piesport. The steep, southwest facing Hofberg was given the top rating in Clotten’s 1868 Vineyard maps.
The winery has four different sides, Dhroner Hofberg in the side valley of the Mosel with south exposition. Monopole Dhroner Häs’chen (2766 qm) with ungrafted vines from 1930, Piesporter Goldtröpfchen with ungrafted vines from 1910 and the 40s and Wintricher Ohligsberg with a southwest facing parcel.
The soil across the 4 vineyards show grey slate with red iron oxide and quartzite inclusions. Pradikät designate wines are produced from Häs’chen, Goldtropfchen, and Hofberg.
Andreas Adam is almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the Dhroner Hofberg back to its former status as one of the great Grand Crus of the Mosel.
The Hofberg is not a classical Mosel wine location but rather a unique location in the Dhron valley, with it's own microclimate
Rocky, gray slate with veins of iron oxide. The south and south-west facing valley parcels are shaped by the last kilometres of the stream “Dhronbach” before entering the Mosel. Cool and fresh winds coming from the nearby Hunsrück determine the climate of these parcels. Due to this, the vines ripen later than the rest of Mosel
Old vine Riesling and Pinot Noir grapes are planted on grey, rocky slate that’s streaked with ferric oxide. Their parcels have been spared from land consolidation which allowed them to maintain a steep terrace culture with dry walls that enables a good biodiversity of flora and fauna that’s typical for the river landscape.
A monopole vineyard, the soils are made up of weathered Devonian slate, ungrafted vines planted in 1930s
The Dhroner Häs’chen measures only 2,677 qm. The terraces are steep and almost monumentally reaching for the sky. Extreme heat and direct sunlight are unknown to the Häs’chen. Facing east, this location is especially well situated during the growing impact of the climate change.
Ungrafted Riesling vines from the 1930s create delicate, aromatic wines that radiate an inner balance.
Weathered Blue slate, clay, sandstone, the oldest vines are 110 years old. Most vineyards have been replanted during the land consolidation in the 90s. Just a few old parcels remain untouched and left in their original state. Since 2009, one of those parcels with partly ungrafted vines aged up to 110 years, located above the village Ferres/Piesport, is part of our vineyard portfolio.
Within the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, the family acquired a site called Laychen. “Lay” is the old word for slate, and “chen” is the diminutive, referring to the small, broken slate soils here.
A streak of woodland above the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen secures the water supply for the vineyards below. The slate differs from the Dhron valley, as it’s more weathered and reaching deeper into the ground.
Wines from Piesport are powerful, wild at youth and often times present themselves with dark fruit.
