Daniel Fries, Terrassen Riesling 2023

Meet Daniel Fries aka the Trailblazer from the Terrassenmosel. Some winemakers choose the easy road. Daniel Fries picked a cliff- Literally.

Daniel works in the Terrassenmosel, a stretch of the Mosel so steep and stony that calling it “vineyard” feels almost misleading. It’s more like a vertical rock garden clinging to the edges of the river, carved into narrow terraces that defy tractors, common sense, and anyone afraid of heights. Everything here is done by hand, and every vintage is earned the hard way.

The Fries family has been growing grapes in the village of Winningen for generations, and Daniel’s path into wine took him far from home before bringing him right back. After studying at Geisenheim alongside some of Germany’s rising stars, he honed his craft with Domaine de Montille in Meursault and Lingua Franca in Oregon, soaking up lessons from some of the best in Burgundy and the New World. In 2019, he returned to his family’s estate to release his own wines under the Daniel Fries label.

From the start, his approach has been clear: minimal intervention, spontaneous fermentation, long lees contact – wines that are rooted in tradition but vibrantly modern in feel. They have texture, precision, and a quiet ambition that mirrors Daniel himself. Each bottle feels like the result of patience, graft, and an intimate understanding of this extreme landscape.

Daniel is soft-spoken, thoughtful, and fully aware there are no shortcuts here. And yet, his wines are already turning heads in the Mosel and beyond. Worth paying attention to Daniel and his wines, I have a sense that we’re only at the beginning of a long, exciting story.