Founded in 1875, Weingut Robert Weil is considered to be one of the Rheingau’s younger wine estates. It is located in the heart of Kiedrich, a village first documented in the year 950. Kiedrich Turmberg and Kiedrich Gräfenberg, the estate’s top vineyards, are among the finest sites in the Rheingau.
The estate cultivates 70 hectares (173 acres) of vineyards, of which 98 percent are planted with Riesling. Today, Wilhelm Weil, the great-grandson of the estate’s founder, carries on the tradition of uncompromising, quality-oriented vineyard and cellar practices – a tradition that has been the hallmark of the winery for four generations.
The Vineyards
Kiedrich Turmberg and Kiedrich Gräfenberg are situated on a southwest-facing ridge and a steep cliff with inclines of up to 60 percent. Their soils consist of deep and medium-deep stony, fragmented phyllite partially mixed with loess and loam. This combination of barren stony soils, an ideal microclimate, steep inclination and southwestern exposure allows the grapes to hang on the vine for a very long time. The resulting wines are complex and rich in minerals, with great elegance and finesse.
The vineyards are cultivated in an environmentally friendly manner: organic fertilizer is used as needed; green cover is planted in alternating rows to optimize the humus content of the soil; herbicides are never used, and other plant protection measures are used only sparingly and with respect for habitat.
Grapes are harvested by hand, with an extremely critical selection that involves up to 17 rounds through the vineyards. The goal of this meticulous attention is to reap the finest fruit possible for wines in every Prädikat level.
Accolades for Weingut Robert Weil
Top 100 Wineries of 2011 —Wine & SpiritsWinemaker of the Year 1997, Gault Millau
“...the most consistendly brilliant winemaker in the Rheingau.” —Michael Broadbent
| estate info sheet | estate brochure | 2010 harvest report |
The character of Robert Weil Rieslings is marked by the mineral-rich soils of the vineyards. These elegant, complex wines offer pronounced fruitiness with nuanced flavors and bouquets. They embody a perfect interplay of fine yet firm acidity with natural sweetness and extract.
ESTATE WINES
Made with the same exacting standards and meticulous attention to detail as the great single-vineyard wines, the estate wines from Robert Weil are the starting point for the vinous journey into the best of the Rheingau. The fruit for these wines comes from vineyard parcels that are adjacent to the top sites: Kiedrich Wasseros and Sandgrub. The deep and medium-deep soils of the vineyards consist of stony, fragmented phyllite mixed with loess and loam. The character of all Robert Weil Rieslings is defined largely by these mineral-rich soils.
The philosophy at Weingut Robert Weil is to combine modern ideas with the long tradition of viticulture in the Rheingau. This wine is a case in point: It’s the estate’s classic rendition of the traditional off-dry style that made the Rheingau famous. The Riesling Tradition is a cuvée from parcels that neighbor the estate’s top vineyard sites in Kiedrich. The 2010 Riesling Tradition has a complex, enveloping aroma of lush fruits, with a hint of sandalwood. It is full and juicy on the palate, with a spicy acid crackle and a long, tingling finish.
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The 2010 Estate Riesling Dry has an intense stony lemon aroma, with a firm, dense texture, well-balanced dryness and a fine fruit finish. This is a wonderfully balanced dry Riesling that pairs well with fresh fish, shellfish, roasted chicken and other lighter dishes.
| info sheet | shelf talker | label |
The Estate Kabinett is sourced from parcels that neighbor the estate’s classified single-vineyard sites and is made to showcase the traditional, lighter style of Riesling (no Kabinett is made from the single-vineyard sites, only Spätlese and above). Made in a medium-dry style, the 2010 Riesling Kabinett shows a fine mineral perfume and pure, spicy lemon fruit in the aroma. It is very finely balanced, with a silky, lingering finish.
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These wines come exclusively from classified vineyard sites on the steep, hillside slopes of Kiedrich.
Kiedrich Turmberg (“tower hill”), a separate slope adjacent to the Gräfenberg vineyard, is rated as premier cru. The German wine law of 1971 had incorporated Turmberg into the Gräfenberg, but in 2005 it was reinstated as an individual, classified site. The steep, southwest-facing site has a slate base with a thin topsoil layer composed of stony, gritty phyllite mixed with loess and loam. It produces very fine, elegant wines that are less massive than their counterparts from the Gräfenberg. Turmberg is wholly owned by Weingut Robert Weil. The 2010 Turmberg Trocken (dry) is bright and pure, with a lovely herbal tone that is characteristic of this site. It has a finely focused mineral structure and a juicy grip on the palate.
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The deep to medium-deep stony soil of the Gräfenberg hillside is made up of phyllite interspersed with
loess and loam. The Kiedrich Gräfenberg Trocken “Erstes Gewächs” is a perfect specimen of this mineralrich
terroir, displaying extremely rich character and complexity. A full-bodied, dry-style wine, it offers a
provocative balance of fruit, spice and flintiness. Fermented naturally in large wooden casks, the 2010
Kiedrich Gräfenberg Erstes Gewächs has a full, stony fruit aroma. It is weighty and complex on the palate,
yet still quite elegant, with extraodinary length to the finish.
The Erstes Gewächs (“first growth”) designation is used only in the Rheingau. Similar to the term Grosses
Gewächs used in other German wine regions, it is reserved for the finest dry wine from a classified
vineyard. Rigorous quality standards apply, and each Erstes Gewächs candidate has to be tasted and
approved by the Rheingau’s governing wine board before it can be released.
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Always stunning, the Spätlese (“late picked”) from Kiedrich Gräfenberg is a massive wine of bewildering
depth and complexity, with many layers of gorgeous fruit that unfold on the palate. It is a stately wine
with power, harmony and impeccable balance.
The 2010 Kiedrich Gräfenberg Spätlese is enormously lush and ripe, but with a firm backbone from the
elevated acidity of the vintage. It is massive and complex on the palate with deep, dense layers of fruit
and a fine fruit finish that lingers endlessly.
| info sheet | shelf talker | label |
Sales materials for some wines are still in production. If you need something that you can’t find here, please e-mail us and we will get it to you as quickly as possible.