Häremillen Wine estate

This young estate was set up in 1988 by Max Mannes, an economics teacher who succumbed to his passion for wine. His daughter, Michèle, a landscape architecture graduate, took over from him in 2021. Although the estate itself is relatively new, it is built on foundations that have seen many vintages come and go. Proof of this can be seen in a parcel of Riesling planted in 1941 that the winemaker cultivates on the terraces of the magnificent Wousselt terroir (Ehnen).

The heart of the estate adjoining the family home beats to the rhythm of the mill that gave the estate its name. Labels of wines produced here celebrate this site chosen by the winemaker rather than bearing his family name – a situation sufficiently rare to be worth mentioning. The first records of a watermill powered by the Mutterbach (a channelled stream) date back to 1551. They show that it was owned by the Trier Cathedral Chapter, which remained the case until the French Revolution. Initially used to mill flour, and later, locally mined gypsum (for making plaster), the mill was even used to generate electricity between 1914 and 1929! It was beautifully renovated in 2005. The area adjacent to the fully operational water wheel now provides a setting for visitors to sample the estate's fine wines.

The winemaking facilities are housed in a modern building built in 1996 at the edge of the village, while the Pinot Noirs are matured in casks laid to rest directly on the bedrock beneath the magnificent vaulted ceiling of the cellar in the family home.