Storia
Origins of the partnership
Tobias Treis and Ivan Giovanett met while studying viticulture at Geisenheim University. After completing their studies, they initially followed separate paths and returned to their respective family wineries: Julius Treis in Reil on the Mosel and Castelfeder in South Tyrol.
Revival of Sorentberg in 2011
Their shared ambition to produce their own high-quality Riesling became a working project in 2011. They chose Sorentberg, a traditional single-vineyard site on the Middle Mosel that had lain forgotten for more than 25 years. The approximately 9.5-hectare, extremely steep, south-facing site was restored by hand.
The project combined methods newly learned by the two winegrowers with experience drawn from two different wine-producing countries. Its focus was a Riesling shaped by Sorentberg’s red slate, cool side-valley climate and steep terrain.
Recovery of the old vines
During the rehabilitation of Sorentberg, Treis and Giovanett discovered old vines amid the overgrowth in the vineyard’s uppermost and especially steep section. The vines were identified as being almost 100 years old and had survived approximately 25 years of abandonment. They were painstakingly cleared and replanted to determine whether they could return to production.
2012: the old vines return to growth
The recovered vines sprouted again in 2012. Their survival became the basis of the estate’s old-vine identity and the 1000 Alte Reben Riesling.
Traditional cellar work
The revived vineyard was paired with a deliberately traditional cellar approach. Grapes are harvested strictly by hand, fermentation begins spontaneously in traditional wooden barrels, and wine-treatment agents are excluded. These choices are intended to preserve Sorentberg’s origin and individual character rather than adapt the wine to methods suited to mass production.
Terroir
Sorentberg is an approximately 9.5-hectare Riesling single vineyard in a side valley of the Middle Mosel. Its terrain is an extremely steep, fully south-facing slope with gradients reaching an average of up to 110%.
The side-valley position provides strong ventilation and a cool climate. Together with the slope’s aspect, these conditions define the environment in which the Riesling grows.
Sorentberg contains red Wissenbach slate with inclusions of shell limestone. Geological examination by the State Office for Geology in Mainz identified the rock as Middle Devonian in age and confirmed Sorentberg as the only Mosel vineyard where this particular geology occurs.
Vinificazione
Sorentberg’s rehabilitation began in 2011 as a manual recultivation of a steep vineyard that had been neglected for more than 25 years. The work included recovering the site’s uppermost section, where almost 100-year-old vines had survived among dense overgrowth. These vines were carefully cleared and replanted; they resumed growth in 2012.
Harvesting is performed strictly by hand. The project rejects vineyard and production methods intended for mass output, directing the work instead toward high quality and a clear expression of Sorentberg’s origin.
Cellar work follows a deliberately traditional, craft-based model informed by the practices and values of earlier Mosel winegrowers. The approach is described as classical and independent of changing winemaking trends.
The hand-harvested Riesling undergoes spontaneous fermentation in traditional wooden barrels. Wine-treatment agents are completely excluded. The purpose of this restrained approach is to carry Sorentberg’s origin and individual personality into the finished wine rather than standardize it through mass-production techniques.
Filosofia
Sorentberg is conceived as a terroir-led Riesling project in which the wine is treated as something grown rather than manufactured. Tobias Treis and Ivan Giovanett seek to express the vineyard’s origin and personality through manual work, low-intervention cellar practices and the rejection of techniques designed for mass production.
Their approach joins knowledge acquired in two wine-producing countries with the values of earlier generations of Mosel winegrowers. New viticultural ideas are applied alongside traditional craft, while spontaneous fermentation, wooden barrels and the avoidance of wine-treatment agents limit intervention in the cellar. The stated objective is the highest possible quality and an unmistakable expression of Sorentberg.