Rita and Rudolf Trossen
Rita and Rudolf Trossen decided to break with modern winemaking practices in 1978, when they converted their entire estate to Biodynamics. They have been crafting wonderful Mosel Valley Rieslings ever since. In 2010, encouraged by many of their sommelier clients, they began to delve into the world of natural winemaking with their Pur’us line of wines, which have no intervention whatsoever. These wines have zero additives, not even sulfur, and are unfined and unfiltered. There are some winemakers working organically in Germany, but the vast majority of winemakers in Germany are steadfast users of sulfur to stabilize and preserve their wines, making the Trossens real pioneers in their area. They allow their wines to sit on the lees for extended periods of time “until all biological processes have come to an end.” For us, the wines were the first German wines we ever tasted that made us sit up and notice something different was happening. The depth of character and expression Riesling can reach without additives is truly amazing.
The Trossen vineyards are full of slate, which resisted phylloxera completely, thus most of their vines are completely ungrafted and some approach 100 years old!
http://www.trossenwein.de/index_e.html
- Pyramide Pur’us Riesling Pur’us
- Schiferstern Pur’usRiesling Pur’us
- Madonna Pur’us Riesling Pur’us
- Schiefergold Riesling Pur’us
- Schieferblume Riesling Trocken
- Trosecco
- Lay Pur’us
- Pur Pur Pur’us
- Rot
- Eule Pur’us
- Fur Ylvi
- Purellus Pur’us
- Kesstenbusch
- Pinot Noir Pur’us
- Hubertus
- Pinot Pur
Pyramide Riesling Pur’us — Back to the top
Pyramide Riesling Pur’us tech sheet
The Pyramide vineyard features south and east facing slopes and the vines are very closely planted, forcing them to dive deep into the ground for nutrients.
Age of Vines: 35 years old
Vineyard: Grey and blue slate
Grapes: Riesling
Making of: Grapes are hand harvested and whole bunches are fermented in 1000-liter stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeast. The tanks are cooled by ambient air and fermentation takes place over about 6 months. The wine ages for about 11 months and is then bottled without fining or filtration and zero sulfur is added.
Schiferstern Riesling Pur’us — Back to the top
Schiferstern Riesling Pur’us tech sheet
Age of Vines: 35 years old
Vineyard: Grey and blue slate
Grapes: Riesling
Making of: Grapes are hand harvested and whole bunches are fermented in 500-liter stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeast. The tanks are cooled by ambient air and fermentation takes place over about 7 months. The wine ages for about 11 months and is bottled without fining or filtration and zero sulfur is added.
Pairing: Madonna Riesling Pur’us — Back to the top
Madonna Riesling Pur’us tech sheet
The Madonna vineyard faces southwest with steep slopes and lots of slate.
Age of Vines: 35 years old
Vineyard: Grey and blue slate
Grapes: Riesling
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand harvested and whole bunches are fermented in 350-liter stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeast. The tanks are cooled by ambient air and fermentation takes place over about 8 months. The wine ages for about 11 months and is bottled without fining or filtration and zero sulfur is added.
Schiefergold Riesling Pur’us — Back to the top
Schiefergold Riesling Pur’us tech sheet
The Schiefergold vineyard feature enormously steep exposures and is completely ungrafted.
Age of Vines: 100 years old
Soil: Grey and blue slate
Varieties: Riesling
Making of: Grapes are hand harvested and whole bunches are fermented in 350-liter stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeast. The tanks are cooled by ambient air and fermentation takes place over 8 months. The wine ages for about 11 months and is bottled without fining or filtration and zero sulfur is added.
Schieferblume Riesling Trocken — Back to the top
Schieferblume Riesling Trocken tech sheet
Schieferblume means “Flower of the Slate” and is a blend from 4 different Riesling vineyards.
Age of Vines: 37-60 years old
Vineyard: Grey and blue slate
Grapes: Riesling
Making of: Grapes are hand harvested and whole bunches are fermented in 1000-liter stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeast. The tanks are cooled by ambient air and fermentation takes place over 4-6 months. The wine is bottled after a light filtration and minimal addition of sulfur.
Trossen Secco — Back to the top
Rita and Rudolf say that “serenity” is the best description for the effect of this delightful sparkling wine.
Age of Vines: Around 100 years old
Vineyard: Shale, gravel, and sandy loam
Grapes: Pinot Blanc, Riesling, and Rivaner
Making of: Grapes are hand harvested and whole bunches are fermented in 2000-liter stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeast and a light addition of sulfur. Secondary fermentation is carried out in bottle with an addition of yeast. The bottles are disgorged and the wine is lightly sulfured. The wine contains a small amount of residual sugar.
Lay Pur’us — Back to the top 
Total Production: 1300 bottles
Age of Vines: 44 years old
Vineyard: Grey and blue slate
Grapes: Riesling
Yield: 60 hl/ha
Making of: Grapes are hand harvested and whole bunches are fermented in a 1000-liter wooden tank with indigenous yeast. The wine cooled by ambient air and fermentation takes place over 12 months. The wine ages on the lees for about 8 months and is bottled without fining or filtration and zero sulfur is added.
Personality: Like taking a summer stroll through a rose garden in full bloom. Hints of marzipan and umami coat the mouth, thanks to time spent on the lees. “Swings back and forth in the mouth for a long time, like the echo in a cathedral,” says Rita and Rudolf. A timeless classic.
Purpur Pur’us — Back to the top
Age of Vines: 30 years old
Vineyard: Grey slate for the Pinot Noir, Sandy clay for the Dornfelder
Grapes: Dornfelder and Pinot Noir
Making of: Grapes are hand picked and destemmed. The juice macerates on the skins for about 2 weeks and is bottled unfined, unfiltered and zero sulfur added.
Age of Vines: 30 years old
Vineyard: Grey slate for the Pinot Noir, Sandy clay for the Dornfelder
Grapes: Dornfelder and Pinot Noir
Making of: Grapes are hand picked and destemmed. The juice macerates on the skins for about 2 weeks and is bottled with a light filtration and a small amount of sulfur.
Personality: Smells like wandering through a blackberry bramble. Dark fruit, black cherry and a pleasant hint of anise, with lasting structure.
Eule Pur’us — Back to the top
Age of Vines: 100 years old
Vineyard: Grey slate
Grapes: Riesling (un-grafted vines)
Making of: Grapes are hand harvested and whole bunches are fermented in a 1000-liter wooden tank with indigenous yeast. The wine cooled by ambient air and fermentation takes place over 8 months. The wine ages for about 6 months on the lees in barrel and is bottled without fining or filtration and zero sulfur is added.
Fur Ylvi — Back to the top
Fur Ylvi is from a more recently planted vineyard, close by to an ancient celctic santuary and stone circle. Rudolph dedicated this wine to their newly born Granddaughter, and named it after her. The name Ylvi is Scandanavian for “little wold girl.” They only made 330 bottles total and the wine is only available in Berlin Paris, Oslo, and now New York.
Vineyard: Grey slate
Grapes: Riesling
Making of: Grapes are picked very carefully by hand, and gently pressed to barrel for a long and cool fermentation. The wine is cooled by ambient air and fermentation takes place over 8 months on the lees. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration and zero sulfur is added.
Purellus Pur’us Pet Nat — Back to the top
The grapes for this wine come from the Langfuhr vineyard on the Roman slope. It is a 40 year old Riesling vineyard with very soft blue slate. A lot of herbs and wild flowers grow there, many animals scurry around, hares, wild boars and deer visit us, no car traffic disturbs the idyll, and the proximity to the flowing river gives this place something magical. This magic also lives in this wine, which was bottled in December 2018 while it was still slowly fermenting. This PetNat is not disgorged, still has the full yeast, and it takes a steady hand, and preferably an apron, to open this bottle. This Riesling exudes a nutty effervescence and excites all senses with its fine perlage. Has only one fault: the bottle is quickly empty when guests come.
Age of Vineyard: 40 years
Vineyard: Grey slate
Grapes: Riesling
Kestenbusch — Back to the top
The name comes from the Mosel dialect and means “small chestnut grove”. This refers to chestnuts that were once brought and planted by the Romans. The location is a little higher, airy and open far to the south, and the grey slate gives the wine a mineral spice. The 2018 was harvested late. Many old rootless vines bring a certain filigree to the wine. A little bit of mashing time was added. Thus the wine has an earthy tautness and depth, and on top of it small yellow fruits appear.
Vineyard: Grey slate
Grapes: Riesling
Pinot Noir — Back to the top
This Pinot Noir is grown on light, grey and blue slate. The grapes were not crushed, fermented as whole grapes (maceration carbonic) and pressed only after 14 days. The must was turned into wine without additives and ingredients, stored in old barriques and stainless steel and now presents itself as delicately fruity and carefree.
Vineyard: Grey and blue slate
Grapes: Pinot Noir
Hubertus — Back to the top 
An exciting new addition to the Trossen Riesling range, Hubertus comes from the Kinheimer Hubertuslay, the same south-facing grey and blue slate vineyard as his famous Lay (see above), but the plots were harvested separately.
Grapes: Riesling
Vineyard: Kinheimer Hubertuslay, south-facing grey and blue slate steep slope above the Mosel river. Old vines on stakes, biodynamically farmed by Rudolf himself.
Making of: hand-harvested, gently pressed and then spontaneously fermented and rested in very old Mosel Fuders. No filtration, no fining, no added sulphur at any moment.
Personality: oh my, what a wine! It’s so incredibly juicy and drinkable, full of great energy, that you almost finish the bottle before discovering all the exciting layers of taste that the wine has – and there are many. Pure pleasure, a wine to be shared and marveled at with fellow wine lovers.
Pinot Pur Weiss — Back to the top
Grapes: Pinot Blanc & Pinot Gris
Vineyard: these grapes are grown by Rudolf’s friend at the border of Mosel and Saarland regions. Certified organic
Making of: hand-harvested, gently pressed and then spontaneously fermented and rested in very old Mosel Fuders. No filtration, no fining, no added sulphur at any moment.
Personality: flowery, super easy to drink, succulent, bright and light white