Axel Pauly

Axel Pauly is one of the bright young stars of the Mosel. After learning his craft across Germany and as far afield as California and New Zealand, he returned to take on the family estate from his father, in the village of Lieser at the heart of the valley.

The vines here cling to some of the steepest, most vertiginous slopes in the wine world, rooted in the grey and blue slate that gives Lieser its cooler, more mineral signature. Look closely at the label, tilted on its side, and the Mosel hills become three profiles: Axel, his father and his grandfather.

In the cellar he works gently, letting wild yeasts lead before guiding the finish, the better to capture each site. The result is Riesling of real clarity and verve, from the easy, dry Tres Naris to the single-vineyard Helden, drawn from eighty-year-old vines on the famed Niederberg-Helden.

Pure, precise and quietly thrilling. Some of the Mosel’s most exciting Riesling, from a name to watch.