Fio Wein

Who would have thought that a meeting on an island in the Caribbean would lead to special, natural Rieslings from the Moselleă Dirk Niepoort from the well-known winery Nieuwpoort from the Douro met Philippe Kettern from the Moselle. He tasted the wines and Dirk saw potential in the wines and in Philippe. Together with their son Daniel Niepoort, they decided on the project Fio: special Rieslings from the Moselle. Rieslings made with love and patience, light, pure and timeless.

Dirk Niepoort, the famous winemaker from the Portuguese Douro, known for his winery Niepoort, was in 2012 to give a wine tasting at an exclusive private party. There he met Philippe Kettern who presented his wines from the Moselle.

A few years earlier, Philippe had taken over from his father. He was now the winemaker of the Kettern wine estate, which lies at the foot of the top vineyard Goldtröpfchen in Piesport. Philippe took his chance and let the experienced Dirk taste his wines.

Dirk saw potential in the wine and in the young Philippe. He invited Philippe to come to Portugal to see how the Niepoort wines are made, from grape to bottle. They visited wine regions around the world in search of the best practices. Back in the Moselle, they decided on a joint project: making Riesling like no one in the Moselle has ever done before. In the meantime, son Daniel Nieport had also joined this project, which they called Fio. Fio means 'red thread' in Portuguese.

The vineyards on the steepest slopes were reserved for the Fio wines. As natural as possible. So sheep in the vineyard to eat the weeds and harvest grapes by hand. Things are also different in the basement. Spontaneous fermentation of the grapes and long maturation of the wine on the yeast cells in old oak casks. In addition, the Fio wines are bottled unfiltered. Some wines even remain for another two years to mature optimally. Time is not an issue for Fio.

Daniel and Philippe are now making groundbreaking Rieslings from the Moselle. A special collaboration between the Douro and the Moselle.