"Von den Terrassen" means: from the terraces. The label does not mention a vineyard name and indeed Knebel's 2009 Von den Terrassen Riesling Trocken is not a single vineyard wine. It is a Riesling made from grapes from Weingut Knebel's Steillagen (steep sites) Winninger Röttgen, Uhlen, Bruckstück, Hamm and Domgarten. These are all steeply terraced and the soil consists of weathered slate and blue slate. Working on (and with) terraced vineyard sites can be challenging at times, as a recent picture from the winery's Facebook page dramatically demonstrates.
Weingut Knebel tends to produce a more concentrated expression of Riesling. It is the winery's motto "not to slim down big vintages" and the wines from the Lower Mosel area around the village of Winningen (shortly before the Mosel meets the Rhine in Koblenz) in general tend to be weightier than the Rieslings from the Upper or even Middle Mosel.
The 2009 Von den Terrassen Riesling is a great expression of the Lower Mosel style. Its aroma is as theatrical as the area's dramatically terraced landscape. It has a very saturated aroma, full of apples and quinces and a strong smell of wet stones and kitchen spices (think of bay leaf and tarragon).
This dry ("trocken") Riesling is, as mentioned before, very concentrated and fairly intense on the palate. The alcohol is only medium high and perfectly balanced with the acidity, which is crisp and mouthwatering. The flavors of ripe red apple and pear are interlaced with wet pebble stones. This fine Riesling ends on a nice spicy note after a medium long length.
Knebel's 2009 Von den Terrassen Riesling is substantial, yet elegant and has a lot of character at this price level.