Immich-Batterieberg

Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner for this estate profile.

Immich-Batterieberg is one of the oldest wineries in the Mosel; originally founded by a Carolingian monastery, it can be traced back to the year 911. In 1495, the Immich family purchased the property, producing traditional dry and off-dry wines under their name for almost 500 years. In 1989, the estate was sold to a new owner. The style of winemaking quickly shifted: long, spontaneous barrel fermentations were replaced with stainless steel, cultured yeasts and micro-filtration. The resulting wines became slicker, fruitier and more modern.

After filing for bankruptcy in 2007, the estate was reacquired in 2009 by Gernot Kollmann and two Hamburg based investors. Gernot is one of Germany's finest up and comers, and no stranger to the Mosel: since his first internship at Dr. Loosen in the early 90's, he's also worked for Weingut Van Volxem (four  vintages: 2000-2003) and Knebel (2004-2008). Since taking over, the wines are once again produced in a dry or off-dry style, with residual sugar depending on each site and each vintage. All of the single vineyard Cru wines are once again being vinified separately in old oak barrels; spontaneous fermentations are the norm and  chaptalization, re/de-acidification or any other intervention during vinification is forbidden. Sulfur is added in low doses and only before bottling. As far as the sites and terroirs go, they are amongst some of the best in the middle Mosel. 80% of the vines are un-grafted and over 60 years old, and everything is worked organically (though not certified). Five Cru bottlings are produced: Steffensberg is on a side valley behind the village of Enkirch, and is characterized by deeper, softer soil composed of copper heavy red slate.  Batterieberg is a 1.1 h monopole within the Zeppwingert, and also the place that gives the estate its namesake: it was Carl August Immich's decision to dynamite this hill between 1841 and 1845 that permitted him to create terraces and plant vines (Batterieberg translates to Battered Mountain). The slate here is grey and very rocky, with a heavy amount of quartz.  To the right of Batterieberg is Gernot's parcel from the Zeppwingert Cru. The soil is darker here.  150m further to the right is the Ellergrub. Gernot considers this his best vineyard. Here, you find the classic blue slate of the middle Mosel.

Finally, Zollturm features darker slate soils, producing a more marked, rich minerality for this  cuvée. Three Mosel blends are also produced: "C.A.I" (named after Carl August Immich) is a blend of the bottom rows of Batterieberg and purchased fruit from un-grafted, organic vineyards. "Escheburg" is a blend of the "b selection" grapes that don't make it into the Cru bottlings. "Detonation" is the newest addition, a blend produced from the top selection of grapes from the purchased fruit vineyards.