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Osann-Monzel and its vineyards from the air, with the hills of the Middle Moselle behind

A wine village for 1000 years

Osann is first mentioned in a document in 1008. Vines were probably growing here centuries earlier. Here we tell the wine history of our village, following the local chronicle »1000 Jahre Osann«.

To the chronicle

From the Roman wine press to the present

The key milestones from the local chronicle »1000 Jahre Osann«.

  1. 4th c.

    Romans press wine on the Noviander Berg

    Right on the Osann municipal boundary, a Roman wine press from the 4th century was found. It strongly suggests that the Romans were already turning Osann grapes into must. Emperor Probus had permitted unrestricted winegrowing on the Moselle as early as 276, and in 396 the poet Ausonius praised the vine-covered slopes in his poem »Mosella«.

  2. 1008

    Osann enters the history books

    The first documented mention of the village. At the time, the church of Osann belonged to the monastery of St. Martin in Trier. This suggests that winegrowing was long established, because monasteries needed altar wine and had a keen interest in good vineyard sites.

  3. 1237

    The monasteries arrive

    Himmerod Abbey acquires vineyards in Osann. Over the centuries it is followed by Kyllburg Collegiate Church, Eberhardsklausen, St. Matthias in Trier and Machern Monastery. The St. Paulin Collegiate Church of Trier is also present; its name lives on to this day in the Paulinslay vineyard.

  4. 1488

    Winegrowing in black and white

    Winegrowing in Osann is explicitly mentioned for the first time in the inheritance contract of Count Dietrich III of Manderscheid. The village passes with all its rights and uses to his son Kuno.

  5. 1792

    Our winery is founded

    While the region is still ruled by the Electorate of Trier, the history of the Arnold Pauly winery begins, two years before the French revolutionary troops reach the Rhineland.

  6. 1880

    Phylloxera and a new beginning

    Phylloxera, brought in from America, threatens the Moselle. Osann appoints specially trained phylloxera inspectors to check the vineyards. Winegrowing in the village survives the crisis and flourishes again in the 20th century.

  7. 1953

    Osann gets a queen

    Klara Reef becomes Osann’s first wine queen and rides on a decorated float to the Bernkastel wine festival. As early as 1954, the Pauly family provides the queen, a tradition that continues to this day.

  8. 1978

    The heyday of village winegrowing

    135 full-time and 86 part-time estates farm 270 hectares of vines in the Kätzchen, Rosenberg, Paulinslay and Kirchlay sites. Almost every family in Osann is involved with wine.

  9. Today

    Fewer estates, a clear signature

    Structural change has greatly reduced the number of wineries. The remaining estates focus all the more consistently on quality. Riesling remains the defining grape, joined by the Pinot varieties. And wine has stayed what it always was in Osann: part of village life.

Osann from the air, nestled between vineyards and woodland

1000 years of history and wine culture

Osann looks back on a long tradition. More than 2,000 years ago, Celts and Romans already valued the sunny slopes of the Middle Moselle and laid the foundation for winegrowing in the village. Finds such as a Roman villa rustica in the area known as “Auf Kompen” bear witness to an early heyday of ancient country estates.

After the Roman era, Osann became a Frankish settlement in the 7th and 8th centuries. The oldest written mention of the church of Osann, the Ecclesia de Osanna, dates from around 1008. For more than 350 years, from the late Middle Ages until 1794, the Counts of Manderscheid shaped village life as landlords under the rule of the Electorate of Trier.

Winegrowing was and is the economic heart of the village. Powerful monasteries such as Himmerod Abbey were the first to value Osann’s slopes. The decisive impulse for today’s quality came in 1780 from Clemens Wenceslaus, Elector of Trier: he ordered the noble Riesling vine to be planted throughout.

With the arrival of French troops in 1794 the feudal system ended, and the winegrowers of Osann became free owners of their vineyards. The Prussian era from 1815 and the modernisation of the 20th century followed. In 1969 the neighbouring villages of Osann and Monzel merged to form today’s municipality of Osann-Monzel.

Viewpoints around the estate

Four rest areas are less than half an hour’s walk from the estate. For the other three, a bike or car is more practical. Select a place for distances, travel options and a route.

Moselblick rest area in the vineyards above Osann-Monzel

Moselblick rest area

Nature and views

Distance from the winery
On foot850 m14 min
Bicycle850 m6 min
Car850 m2 min

Benches among the vineyards above Osann-Monzel, with wide views of the Moselle valley.

Route in Google Maps

Shaped by slate

Our vines grow in the four Osann vineyard sites, on soils that have borne wine since Roman times. At the centre is Riesling, the grape that made the Moselle famous. Alongside it we grow Pinot varieties and specialities of our own.

See our wines
Dark slate rock up close
The Moselle in a wide bend, with vineyards and villages on the slopes

Four vineyard sites, one village

The vineyards of Osann-Monzel are spread across four classic sites. In 1978, at the height of village winegrowing, there were 270 hectares of vines here, divided as follows:

  • Rosenberg

    120 hectares

    The largest Osann site, with powerful, sun-kissed Rieslings.

  • Kätzchen

    100 hectares

    A melodious name and fine fruit. The heart of the slopes above the village.

  • Paulinslay

    25 hectares

    A small site with a slaty spice, named after the St. Paulin Collegiate Church of Trier.

  • Kirchlay

    25 hectares

    Around the old parish church. Wines with character and a sense of place.

Areas according to the local chronicle »1000 Jahre Osann«, as of 1978. »Lay« is the Moselle word for slate rock.

Osann-Monzel in the evening light, surrounded by vineyards

A year in the vineyard

From winter pruning to the harvest, almost everything on our slope is done by hand. When you stay with us, you can see outside what is happening right now.

  1. January to March

    Pruning

    In frost and clear air we prune every vine by hand. This is when it is decided how many grapes the summer will bring.

  2. April and May

    Budburst

    The buds open and the first green appears above the slate. Now we hope there will be no more late frost.

  3. June

    Flowering

    Inconspicuous but delicately fragrant. When the vines flower, the harvest is about 100 days away.

  4. July and August

    Canopy work

    We thin the leaves so that sun and air reach every bunch. Row by row, by hand on the steep slope.

  5. September and October

    The harvest

    The highlight of the year. We pick by hand and in several passes; every bunch goes through our fingers.

  6. November and December

    Quiet in the cellar

    The young wine ferments and matures in the quiet of the cellar. Outside the slope rests until pruning starts again in winter.

Vineyards above Osann, with the Moselle below
Dark slate rock up close

Why the Moselle tastes different

The Moselle is the largest steep-slope wine region in the world. The slate soil stores warmth during the day and releases it to the vines at night, while the river softens frost and heat. The result is wines that combine lightness and depth, with little alcohol and plenty of tension. On the Moselle they say: you can taste the slate.

Osann does not lie directly on the riverbank but on the gentler slopes above the valley. Grapes were already pressed here in Roman times. On the Noviander Berg, right on the Osann boundary, a Roman wine press from the 4th century was found.

Find your way to us

We are happy to answer your questions about our wines or holiday apartment.

Address

Ferienweingut Arnold Pauly
Im Lehen 1 · 54518 Osann-Monzel

Map of the Moselle from Trier to Cochem. Osann-Monzel and Arnold Pauly Winery are marked in gold.COCHEMBREMMZELLPÜNDERICHENKIRCHKRÖVÜRZIGTRABEN-TRARBACHBERNKASTEL-KUESMÜHLHEIMWINTRICHMINHEIMPIESPORTNEUMAGEN-DHRONLEIWENMEHRINGSCHWEICHKENNTRIEROSANN-MONZELARNOLD PAULY WINERY

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