The wines of Fio Wein

Who would have thought a meeting on a Caribbean island would lead to special, natural Rieslings from the Moselle? Dirk Niepoort of the well-known Niepoort winery from the Douro met Philippe Kettern from the Moselle. He tasted the wines, and Dirk saw potential in the wines and in Philippe. Together with son Daniel Niepoort they decided on the Fio project: special Rieslings from the Moselle. Rieslings made with love and patience, light, pure and timeless.

Check out our wine made by Fio Wein

Dirk Niepoort, the famous winemaker from the Portuguese Douro, known for his winery Niepoort, was invited in 2012 to give a wine tasting at an exclusive private party. There he met Philippe Kettern, who presented his wines from the Moselle.

A few years earlier, Philippe had taken over from his father and was now the winemaker at Weingut Kettern, which lies at the foot of the top vineyard Goldtröpfchen in Piesport. Philippe seized his opportunity and let the experienced Dirk taste his wines.

Dirk saw potential in the wine and in young Philippe. He invited Philippe to come to Portugal and see how Niepoort's wines are made, from grape to bottle. Together they visited wine regions around the world, in search of 'best practices'. Back in the Moselle, they decided on a joint project: making Riesling like no one had ever done in the Moselle before. By then son Daniel Niepoort had also joined the project, which they called Fio - Portuguese for 'thread' or 'common thread'.

The vineyards on the steepest slopes were reserved for the Fio wines - as natural as possible. So sheep in the vineyard to eat the weeds, and hand-harvested grapes. They also do things differently in the cellar: spontaneous fermentation of the grapes and long aging of the wine, on the lees in old oak foudres. Moreover, the Fio wines go into the bottle unfiltered - some wines even rest for another two years after that to reach optimal maturity. Time is not an issue for Fio.

Daniel and Philippe now make groundbreaking Rieslings from the Moselle - a remarkable collaboration between the Douro and the Moselle. We currently have one wine from Fio Wein in our range. You can view all our wines from Fio Wein here.

If you want to know more about this winery, here you will find the link to the website of Fio Wein.