Covering just 1.2 ha, the Traiser Bastei is one of the smallest prime vineyard sites in Germany. Here, protected from the elements by the Rotenfels massif, the highest rock face north of the Alps, old Riesling vines thrive in a unique microclimate. In about 1870 Peter Crusius III acquired almost a third of the vineyard area here and we have been harvesting our most mineral wines on the stony detritus of volcanic weathered rock (rhyolite) ever since. Year for year, their characteristic herbal, smoky essence makes them unmistakable.