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Weingut Daniel Fries

Daniel Fries makes dry Riesling and Pinot Noir in Winningen on the Terrassenmosel, drawing on steep slate terraces, a cool northern climate and a family wine history that reaches back to the mid-18th century.

The producer

Daniel Fries released his first vintage in 2019 after studying viticulture and working in the Pfalz, Rheinhessen, Baden, Oregon and Burgundy. Back in Winningen, he works with Riesling and Pinot Noir from stony, hand-worked terraces where slate holds warmth while the northern setting preserves acidity. Reiner Fries planted the family’s first Pinot Noir in 1986, giving Daniel a red-wine thread to develop beside Mosel Riesling.

The range moves from Estate Riesling to Rieslings from Winninger Uhlen and Winninger Röttgen, whose extended lees ageing and wooden-barrel fermentation bring more body and texture to a dry frame. Pinot Noir is picked early, extracted gently and sometimes made with whole bunches, directing the wine toward cherry fruit, savoury spice and measured tannin rather than heavy colour or sweet oak.

Known for

Dry slate-grown Riesling and fresh, gently extracted Pinot Noir from Winningen’s steep Terrassenmosel terraces.

Notable facts

The story

A return to Winningen

Before Daniel Fries released his first vintage in 2019, he studied viticulture and worked through the Pfalz, Rheinhessen and Baden. His stages then took him to Oregon and Burgundy. He returned to Winningen, where the Fries family had worked from the old village centre since the mid-18th century and where his father, Reiner, had planted the family’s first Pinot Noir in 1986. Daniel began his own project with the two grapes already rooted in that place: Riesling from the Terrassenmosel’s steep slate terraces and Pinot Noir from the family’s red-wine plantings. His first release carried his own name, while the vineyards and cellar history behind it were already part of Winningen.

A return to Winningen

Before Daniel Fries released his first vintage in 2019, he studied viticulture and worked through the Pfalz, Rheinhessen and Baden. His stages then took him to Oregon and Burgundy. He returned to Winningen, where the Fries family had worked from the old village centre since the mid-18th century and where his father, Reiner, had planted the family’s first Pinot Noir in 1986. Daniel began his own project with the two grapes already rooted in that place: Riesling from the Terrassenmosel’s steep slate terraces and Pinot Noir from the family’s red-wine plantings. His first release carried his own name, while the vineyards and cellar history behind it were already part of Winningen.

From the atlas

Weingut Daniel Fries

At A Glance

Weingut Daniel Fries works in Winningen on Germany’s Terrassenmosel, with Riesling and Pinot Noir rooted in steep slate terraces. Hot slate stores warmth while the northern climate keeps natural acidity present, so the white wines can stay dry and brisk while the reds are handled for freshness rather than weight.

The Producer

Daniel Fries released his first vintage in 2019 after studying viticulture and working in the Pfalz, Rheinhessen, Baden, Oregon and Burgundy. His project grows from a family operation in Winningen’s old village centre, but its two grapes pull in different directions: Riesling follows the slate terraces into dry, acid-driven wines, while Pinot Noir continues a family red-wine line begun in 1986.

Place

Winningen sits in the Terrassenmosel, where vineyards climb above the Mosel on narrow terraces rather than broad, easily worked slopes. The cool northern conditions slow ripening, while slate can hold daytime heat around the vines. Riesling therefore has the conditions for ripeness without losing its acidity; Pinot Noir is picked early and made with a lighter, fresher profile.

Soil And Site

The vineyards include medieval slate terraces around Winningen. Their stony ground and steep construction leave little room for machinery, so much of the work is done by hand and yields are low. Those limits concentrate attention on small sites rather than volume, and the named Riesling terraces of Winninger Uhlen and Winninger Röttgen carry the estate’s more extended cellar treatment.

Story

The Fries family has operated from Winningen’s old village centre since the mid-18th century. Reiner and Anke Fries turned their attention to careful cultivation of the steep terraces from 1987, expanding the family estate from 2.3 hectares to approximately 9 hectares. A year earlier, Reiner had planted the family’s first Pinot Noir. Daniel’s return brings that red-wine thread alongside Riesling from the same difficult slate landscape, with a new label beginning in 2019 rather than a break from the family ground.

Vineyards And Cellar

In the vineyard, the work is largely unaided: steep, stony terraces are hand-worked and farmed for low yields. This is physical viticulture, and it keeps the fruit tied to sites where access itself limits scale. In the cellar, Pinot Noir is harvested early, extracted gently and sometimes fermented with whole bunches; early picking protects acidity, gentle extraction avoids heavy tannin, and stems can add savoury spice to red fruit.

The top Rieslings take another route. Wines from Uhlen and Röttgen are not fined, ferment in wooden barrels and remain on their lees for an extended period. Wood is part of the fermentation vessel rather than a cue for overt oak flavour, while lees contact adds body and a broader texture beneath Riesling’s dry acidity.

Wines

The range is organised around estate Riesling, site-led Rieslings and Pinot Noir. Estate Riesling appears in documented 2023 and 2024 releases, with the 2024 labelled Trocken: dry Riesling is the clearest expression of the cool-climate, slate-grown side of the estate. Its role is immediate fruit and acidity rather than the longer lees ageing reserved for the top terrace wines.

Winninger Uhlen and Winninger Röttgen take Riesling further into site and cellar. Their wooden-barrel fermentation and extended lees maturation bring more texture and weight to a dry frame, so the citrus and mineral character of Riesling can sit alongside a longer, more savoury finish. DOM is the Pinot Noir cuvée. Its early harvest, gentle extraction and variable whole-bunch use point toward fresh cherry fruit, moderate body, fine tannin and spice rather than dense colour or sweet oak.

In The Glass

Riesling is the sharper line through the range: citrus fruit and mineral notes lead into high acidity, then lees ageing can fill out the middle of the palate without turning the wine sweet. In the site wines, dry fruit, a broader texture and a long finish belong together because the wines spend extended time on their lees after wooden-barrel fermentation.

Pinot Noir follows a different sequence. Early harvesting keeps the fruit lively, gentle extraction keeps tannin measured, and whole bunches can add a savoury, spicy edge. The likely shape is red cherry fruit first, then light-to-medium body, fine grip and a dry finish. Across both grapes, freshness comes from the cool Terrassenmosel setting rather than from heavy cellar handling.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the 2024 Daniel Fries Estate Riesling Trocken. It is an estate-level dry Riesling, so it introduces the producer’s central ingredients without asking the bottle to carry the fuller site treatment of Uhlen or Röttgen: slate terraces, a cool northern climate, ripe fruit and active acidity. Look for a dry palate, citrus-led fruit, a light-to-medium body and a mineral finish. It puts Riesling’s direct relationship with Winningen in the foreground.

Anecdote

Before releasing his own first vintage in 2019, Daniel Fries studied viticulture and worked through the Pfalz, Rheinhessen and Baden, then travelled further to Oregon and Burgundy for stages. He returned to Winningen, where his family had long worked from the old village centre and where his father Reiner had planted the family’s first Pinot Noir in 1986. Daniel’s project began there with the two grapes already embedded in the family story: Riesling from the Terrassenmosel’s slate terraces and Pinot Noir from the red-wine foundation Reiner had established decades earlier. The first vintage under Daniel’s own name was 2019.

Final Word

Daniel Fries is a Winningen producer to seek out for the meeting point of two grapes and one demanding landscape. Begin with dry Estate Riesling for acidity, fruit and slate; move to Uhlen or Röttgen for lees-grown texture; keep DOM in view for Pinot Noir shaped by early harvest, gentle extraction and savoury whole-bunch detail.

Sources

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