Germany · Mosel

Weingut Martin Müllen

A small family estate in Traben-Trarbach, making dry Mosel Riesling with hand-picked fruit, historic basket pressing, spontaneous fermentation and traditional wooden-cask ageing.

The producer

Weingut Martin Müllen began as a hobby winery in 1986 and now works approximately five hectares in Traben-Trarbach. Martin Müllen’s son Jonas joined in 2018; since 2025, the estate has belonged to Ring Mosel. Hand-harvested grapes are gently pressed in a historic basket press, then given time through spontaneous fermentation and ageing in traditional wooden casks.

Trarbacher Hühnerberg is the estate’s central site story. Martin Müllen began assembling parcels there in 2000 and eventually brought 2.5 hectares together in a vineyard that held the highest category on the 1897 Mosel classification map. In the dry 2021 Hühnerberg Riesling Spätlese Trocken, ripe yellow fruit, herbs and crushed slate meet a creamy texture, juicy acidity and a saline finish.

Known for

Dry Riesling from Trarbacher Hühnerberg, shaped by historic basket pressing, spontaneous fermentation and wooden-cask ageing.

Notable facts

The story

Assembling Hühnerberg

In 2000, Martin Müllen began acquiring separate parcels in Trarbacher Hühnerberg, a vineyard above Traben-Trarbach that had once held the highest category on the 1897 Mosel vineyard-classification map. The work continued over years rather than arriving in one purchase. Müllen eventually assembled 2.5 hectares in the site, bringing its separate plots into the estate’s care. Hühnerberg fruit later appeared under its own vineyard name, including the 2014 Trarbacher Hühnerberg Kabinett Trocken *, made from old vines with ambient yeasts in a classic Fuder and bottled in August 2015.

From the atlas

Weingut Martin Müllen

Dry Mosel Riesling from steep slate vineyards, shaped by a historic basket press, long fermentation and old wooden casks.

At A Glance

The Producer

Weingut Martin Müllen is a family estate in Traben-Trarbach whose roughly five hectares are devoted chiefly to Riesling. Founded as a hobby winery in 1986, it now makes dry, named-vineyard wines with hand-picked fruit, slow fermentation and cask ageing at their centre. Jonas Müllen joined the business in 2018, and the estate has belonged to Ring Mosel since 2025. The defining label is Trarbacher Hühnerberg Riesling: a dry wine whose vineyard name points to a reclaimed south-facing slope rather than a broad regional blend.

Place

The estate works the Middle Mosel around Traben-Trarbach and Kröv, where steep slopes narrow the work to individual vineyard sections. Riesling occupies 95% of the vines, so the differences between labels come chiefly through site and harvest rather than a changing grape mix. On a bottle of Trarbacher Hühnerberg Riesling, Hühnerberg names the vineyard behind the fruit; the label directs attention to one slope and its slate rather than to Mosel as a whole.

Soil And Site

Trarbacher Hühnerberg faces south over blue-brown slate. A sunny exposure helps Riesling grapes reach ripeness, while the slate-rich ground is reflected in the crushed-stone and saline notes recorded in the dry 2021 wine. The site received the highest category on the 1897 Mosel vineyard-classification map, a historical detail made concrete by Müllen’s 2.5 hectares of parcels there. The 2021 Hühnerberg Spätlese Trocken draws fruit from all four vineyard terraces, carrying the hill’s separate sections into one dry bottle.

Story

Martin and Susanne Müllen began with a hobby winery in 1986, then committed to viticulture full-time around 1991. The estate remained small enough for hand harvesting and a historic basket press to stay central to the work, instead of becoming an incidental tradition beside a larger production. Jonas’s arrival in 2018 extends that family line into the present range, where dry Rieslings keep vineyard names and long cellar time in view.

Vineyards And Cellar

Hand-harvested grapes are gently pressed in a historic basket press, then ferment spontaneously and age in traditional wooden casks. The cellar allows the wines time to develop with minimal intervention. For dry Riesling, that sequence preserves fruit and acidity while the old wood contributes texture rather than an overt oak flavour. The 2014 Trarbacher Hühnerberg Kabinett Trocken * makes the method especially tangible: old-vine fruit fermented with ambient yeasts in a classic Fuder, then remained unbottled until August 2015.

Wines

The documented range is organised around dry Riesling from named vineyards rather than a generic estate bottling. Trarbacher Hühnerberg appears as the 2014 Kabinett Trocken * and as the 2021 Riesling Spätlese Trocken: two dry expressions from the same central site, separated by vintage, harvest and cellar history. The 2021 Hühnerberg was picked in November and bottled at 11% alcohol, combining dry structure with ripe fruit.

Alongside it, the 2021 Trabener Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese Trocken brings another named slope into view. Its old and younger vines produce a dry Riesling with lemon zest, grapefruit, white flowers and spice, followed by savoury fruit and a long, salty finish. The range therefore moves through vineyard names and dry Riesling texture, from Hühnerberg’s yellow fruit and slate to Würzgarten’s citrus and herbs.

In The Glass

The 2021 Trarbacher Hühnerberg Riesling Spätlese Trocken opens with ripe small yellow fruit, smoky herbs and crushed blue slate. On the palate, the wine is compact but not heavy: a creamy texture runs through it, while ripe, juicy acidity keeps the body lively. Saline mineral character stays on the finish, giving the dry wine a mouthwatering pull after the fruit has receded.

The Würzgarten takes a brighter aromatic route, with lemon thyme, grapefruit peel, mandarin, mint and white flowers. Its dry palate is more overtly savoury and spicy, with citrus and smoke returning after the fruit. Both wines show how spontaneous fermentation and wooden-cask ageing can frame Riesling without covering its acidity or slate-derived mineral notes.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose the 2021 Trarbacher Hühnerberg Riesling Spätlese Trocken. It is dry Riesling from the estate’s central 2.5-hectare Hühnerberg holding, harvested in November across four terraces, pressed by hand-harvested-fruit methods and raised through spontaneous fermentation and oak vessels. The wine brings ripe yellow fruit, herbs, crushed blue slate and saline mineral character into a compact, creamy palate, with juicy acidity and a long dry finish. It puts the south-facing slate slope and the patient cellar work in the same glass.

Anecdote

By 2000, Trarbacher Hühnerberg had largely fallen from prominence despite its highest-category placing on the 1897 Mosel vineyard-classification map. Martin Müllen began acquiring parcels there that year. Over the years, those separate holdings became 2.5 hectares under the estate’s care: a south-facing stretch of blue-brown slate above Traben-Trarbach. The vineyard was not restored as a museum piece. Its fruit went into bottles carrying the Hühnerberg name, including the 2014 Kabinett Trocken * and the dry 2021 Spätlese drawn from all four terraces.

Final Word

A Trarbacher Hühnerberg label joins a specific south-facing slate vineyard to a historic basket press and wooden-cask ageing. In the dry 2021 Riesling, that route arrives as yellow fruit, herbs, saline slate, creamy texture and a long finish.

Sources

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