Weingut von Hövel

Butterflies from the Saar

Weingut von Hövel has holdings in the renowned Scharzhofberg, as well as sole ownership of the top sites Oberemmmeler Hütte and Kanzemer Hörecker. Max von Kunow now cultivates 20 ha of vineyards, most of which is Riesling. Like his father before him, Max von Kunow attaches great importance to naturally grown grapes that are, for the most part, gently treated and pressed, naturally cleared via sedimentation, and slowly fermented with ambient yeasts.

The resulting Riesling wines are very light-bodied. Transparent in style, they prance lightly over the palate and leave behind a delicate, almost tender-like impression. The filigree wines are reminiscent of dancing butterflies in the reflecting sunlight of the Saar.

The Roots

The 1,100-year-old cellar and the foundations of today’s Weingut von Hövel date back to the manorial rule of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Maximin in Trier. They are the silent witnesses to the Trier witch trials.

In 1803, the merchant Emmerich Grach from Trier bought a part of the former abbey after Napoleon had expropriated the church property. Farmland and vineyards were also included. Grach’s son, Johann Georg Grach, inherited the Maximinerhof in Oberemmel. In 1902, the granddaughter of Johann Georg Grach married the royal head forester Balduin von Hövel, the name of today’s winery.

Eberhard von Kunow, the great-grandson of Balduin von Hövel, studied viticulture in Geisenheim and took over the wine estate from his parents, Irmgard and Friedrich von Kunow, who had purchased the estate in the fifties. Since that time, the wines have become more and more popular, especially under Eberhard von Kunow. Today, his son Maximilian von Kunow manages the well-known property in the 7th generation.