The Upper Moselle (german: Obermosel) is the section of the
River Moselle, 45 kilometres long, that runs from the
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
-
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
-
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
tripoint
A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...
near
Perl
Perl is a family of two high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming languages. "Perl" refers to Perl 5, but from 2000 to 2019 it also referred to its redesigned "sister language", Perl 6, before the latter's name was offic ...
to its confluence with the
Saar near
Konz
Konz ( la, link=no, Contionacum) is a city in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Saar and Moselle, approx. 8 km southwest of Trier.
Konz is the seat of the ''Verbandsg ...
shortly before
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
. From the tripoint to its confluence with the
Sauer
The Sauer (German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre ( French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is .
Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Sauer ...
, the Upper Moselle forms the border between the German states of the
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...
and
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
on the one side and
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
on the other. This stretch of the river known as the Upper Moselle is, however, not the same as the geographical upper reaches of the Moselle, which run from its source near
Bussang
Bussang (; or ''Büssing'') is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in Northeastern France. Known as the source of the Moselle River
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges moun ...
in the
Vosges mountains
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
in
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...
via
Épinal
Épinal (; german: Spinal) is a commune in northeastern France and the prefecture of the Vosges department.
Geography
The commune has a land area of . It is situated on the river Moselle, south of Nancy. Épinal station has rail connecti ...
and
Nancy roughly as far as
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
.
Vineyards have been cultivated on the slopes of the Upper Moselle since
Roman times
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
. This wine-growing area is part of Germany's
Moselle wine region (prior to 2007 it was known as the Moselle-Saar-Ruwer wine region) and bears the further title of the Southern Wine Moselle (''Südliche Weinmosel''). The Luxembourgois call the road running along the Upper Moselle on the Luxembourg bank of the river, the Luxembourg Wine Road.
It is ironic that the only wine growing region of the state of
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...
is not actually on the
River Saar, but on the Upper Moselle in the municipality of
Perl
Perl is a family of two high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming languages. "Perl" refers to Perl 5, but from 2000 to 2019 it also referred to its redesigned "sister language", Perl 6, before the latter's name was offic ...
. But this is not where
Saar wine is made which is also part of the
Moselle wine region; that comes from the lower reaches of the Saar in the state of
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
. The wine made in the Saarland in the
Moseltor ("Moselle Gate") area is also a
Moselle wine.
The
grape varieties
This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...
grown on the Upper Moselle include
Rivaner/
Müller-Thurgau
Müller-Thurgau is a white grape variety (sp. ''Vitis vinifera'') which was created by Hermann Müller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882 at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany. It is a crossing of Riesling with Madeleine ...
,
Kerner,
Pinot Blanc
Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produces white ...
(''Weißer Burgunder'') and
Pinot Noir (''Blauer Spätburgunder'') as well as
Elbling
Elbling is a variety of white grape (sp. ''Vitis vinifera'') which today is primarily grown in the upstream parts of the Mosel region in Germany and in Luxembourg, where the river is called Moselle. The variety has a long history, and used t ...
, which is typical of the Upper Moselle and which the Romans are supposed to have introduced. In addition the
wineries
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, b ...
on the Upper Moselle offer sparkling wine (''Winzersekt''),
wine and fruit spirits and
liqueurs. They mainly market their products themselves and also offer them in
wine or wine-tasting bars, wine taverns known as ''
Straußwirtschaften'' and, during the summer months, at vineyard open days (''Hoffesten'').
See also
Middle Moselle,
Lower Moselle
External links
Tourism on the Saar and Upper MoselleCulture and Orchid Path, Wasserliesch
{{coord missing, Rhineland-Palatinate
Landscapes of Rhineland-Palatinate
Moselle
Valleys of Rhineland-Palatinate
Articles containing video clips