The cultivation and cultivation of so-called rootstocks—young grafted vines—takes place in vine nurseries. To create a vine, a scion—e.g., Riesling—is grafted onto a phylloxera-resistant rootstock by appropriate pruning.

These young grafted vines are planted in the ground in the spring, remain in the soil throughout the summer with adequate nutrient supply and pest control, and are then re-trained in late autumn. The young seedlings will then have developed magnificently and will grow well in their final location—the vineyard—the following spring.

This vine grafting technique became necessary due to the devastating damage phylloxera caused to European wine-growing regions at the end of the 19th century. To this day, vines are grafted onto root-forming, phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks worldwide.

A vine planted in the optimal location—in terms of exposure, soil, and climate—will produce good yields of high quality for 25 to 30 years. In later years, the yield declines steadily. As the root system branches out and grows deeper, the berries of old vines retain significantly higher levels of extract and minerals. Today, wineries are proud to own such old vines and market the wine exclusively under the designation "Alte Reben" (Old Vines).

Over the course of a year, a vineyard requires a variety of maintenance activities , such as pruning in winter, tying the vines in spring, leaf removal , grape thinning , and soil care in summer. Leaf removal includes:

- breaking out of shoots,

- Looping or tying the shoots,

- Removal of suckers,

- Thinning of the grape zone,

- Trimming the tips of shoots and tops.

After completing their work in the vineyards in late summer, the winegrowers look forward to a long, sunny, and dry autumn in order to bring another excellent vintage of wine into the cellars.

The steep slate slopes of the Saar are particularly well suited for growing the Riesling grape variety:

about 80% of the vineyard area is planted with Riesling ,

about 10% of the Burgundy varieties Weiß - and Grauburgunder ,

approx. 5% Müller-Thurgau (Rivaner) and

approx. 5% of the red wine varieties Pinot Noir and Dornfelder