Weingut Staffelter-Hof
Mosel Valley, Germany

Staffelter Hof is widely regarded as the oldest continuously operating winery in the world, with documented origins dating back to 862 AD. Founded by the Belgian Benedictine Abbey of Stavelot—hence the name Staffelter—the estate produced wine exclusively for the monastery until the French Revolution. Following its secularisation under Napoleon in the early 1800s, the property passed into private ownership and has remained with the Klein family ever since. Today, it is led by 10th-generation winemaker Jan Matthias Klein.

The winery is based in Kröv, in the heart of the Middle Mosel, on a pronounced bend of the river between the villages of Wolf and Kinheim. Its holdings encompass approximately 14 hectares spread across some forty individual parcels, including recognised sites such as Paradies, Kirchlay, Letterlay, Steffensberg, and Dhroner Hofberg. These vineyards are defined by steep gradients, slate-dominated soils, and a wide range of exposures and elevations, requiring predominantly manual viticulture.

Vineyard management has been strictly organic since 2011 and certified since 2014, a significant commitment in a region where steep slopes make conventional mechanisation impractical. Four hectares are planted to disease-resistant hybrid varieties (PIWIs), reflecting a pragmatic approach to long-term sustainability. Jan Klein is closely involved in Vision Mosel, a regional initiative focused on climate resilience, the preservation of steep-slope viticulture, and the responsible integration of hybrids into the Mosel landscape.

Winemaking follows a low-intervention, no-recipe approach. Fermentations are spontaneous, wines are unfined and unfiltered, and many cuvées are bottled with zero additions, including no sulphur where stability allows. Extended élevage is used to achieve balance rather than corrective cellar inputs. Alongside classically structured Rieslings, Staffelter Hof produces a growing range of wines from hybrid varieties, treated with the same restraint and precision.

Soil health underpins the entire operation. Composting, the use of biochar, permanent cover crops, and the development of vitiforestry through the Weinwald 862 project—integrating trees within vineyard sites—form part of a broader strategy to improve biodiversity, manage heat and water stress, and future-proof the estate. Staffelter Hof represents a convergence of deep historical continuity and measured, forward-looking viticulture, grounded in practical responses to contemporary environmental and climatic challenges.