Christoffel Jos. Jr.

Kajo Christoffel – The quiet legend of the Moselle

The Moselle has produced many great winemakers, but few were as deeply rooted in their homeland and their craft as Karl-Josef Christoffel – known to everyone simply as ‘Kajo’. His winery, Jos. Christoffel Jr. in picturesque Ürzig was, for decades, one of the region’s best-kept secrets – a gem that connoisseurs placed on a par with greats such as Joh. Jos. Prüm or Egon Müller.

The history of the winery is a story of dedication. Together with his brother Kurt, who was in charge of sales, Kajo Christoffel ran the business from the 1950s onwards . At the heart of the estate were the approximately four hectares of vineyards, spread across the most famous sites of the Middle Mosel: the Ürziger Würzgarten, the Erdener Prälat and the Erdener Treppchen. Here, on the steep slate slopes, stood old, ungrafted vines, some of which were a century old and yielded grapes of exceptional concentration and depth.

Kajo’s winemaking philosophy was as simple as it was uncompromising: classic manual methods with spontaneous fermentation in traditional barrels, combined with the unmistakable terroir of the ancient vines. The result was Rieslings of almost painful elegance – lively, delicate and possessing a vibrant minerality that interpreted each vintage in a unique way. His legendary Auslese wines, bearing the coveted gold capsule which he reserved for ‘wines of the century’, are now highly sought-after rarities. Following a tasting of his 2006 Ürziger Würzgarten Auslese *** GK, one critic raved about its ‘breathtaking precision and elegance’.

Following his brother’s death in 1995, Kajo continued to run the estate with his sister-in-law. According to legend, his wines won admirers far beyond the Moselle – a Chinese restaurateur raved about them even years later: “Kajo opened my eyes and, above all, my palate”.

Karl-Josef Christoffel passed away in 2021. His vineyards are now leased out. Yet the legacy of this quiet master lives on in the bottles of his wines – a legacy of incomparable depth and timeless beauty.