Why it matters
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.
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.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
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.
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.
In the cellar
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 to know
The range in view
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.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
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.