Robert Weil Kiedrich Klosterberg Riesling Trocken 2020

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

The vines on this steep, four-hectare vineyard are now between 40 and 60-years-old. At up to 300 metres, this is the highest of the three Weil hillside sites, yet thanks to its southern aspect and deeper, iron-rich weathered slate soils, it also produces the most opulent and seductive of these wines (when young). The Weil team often use the term ‘baroque’ when describing wines from Klosterberg, in reference to the lift and generosity. There are some similarities in character with the Kiedricher but there is a kick up in the intensity and drive on the finish.

Raised entirely in doppelstückfass the 2020 was aged on the full lees until late July for the first time (instead of April, like in the former vintages).

“The famous blue label of the estate has become the symbol of the highest quality of German wines. Only a few wine estates can boast such a continual and high level of overall quality.”
Michel Bettane and Thierry Desseauve, Great Wines of the World

“Weil is widely seen as the jewel of Rheingau.” Jancis Robinson, The Financial Times

“Robert Weil has been one of the icons of German wine culture for many years. Nothing but the finest Rieslings are produced. And as more than 100 years ago, the wines are distinguished in terms of their origins and their style.”
Stephan Reinhardt, The Finest Wines of Germany

“The style of Robert Weil wines is unmistakable […] mineral, citrus-fruit flavor in the dry wines with no angular acidity and a crescendo of concentration and white peach fruit in the sweet wines.”
Freddy Price, Riesling Renaissance

The Rheingau wines of Robert Weil have reached well beyond cult status and today are revered across the globe as some of Germany’s most superlative Rieslings. Based in the town of Kiedrich, Weil’s wines are fuelled by the three epic, high altitude, south facing vineyards of Klosterberg, Turmberg and most famously, Gräfenberg, all situated in the foothills of the Taunus Mountains. From these historic sites, Wilhelm Weil, a pioneer of ‘earth to glass’ wine growing, guides Rheingau Riesling to its most seamless, precise expression and in doing so produces some of the world’s most inspirational Rieslings.

While Wilhelm Weil’s meticulous, everything by hand, berry by berry, approach, is a key factor in understanding the remarkable precision of these wines, it is, as always, the vineyards that dictate the ultimate quality and personality of the wines produced. These steep, stony, mineral rich vineyards are managed in order to maximise their terroir. Herbicides are never used, and as the aim here is to encourage life in the soil, only organic manure is applied and cover crops are grown to add to the organic matter. Grapes are harvested by hand with as many as 17 passes through the vineyard, ensuring only the most pristine and perfectly ripe grapes make it into each wine. In the winery all fruit receives a pre-ferment maceration, typically between 6-24 hours (or a lengthy 72 hours for the Erstes Gewächs). There is a very gentle pressing of whole berries, the musts are allowed to start fermenting naturally and spend varying time on lees subject to the cuvée.

The Rheingau was historically Germany’s most revered vineyard region and once produced the world’s most expensive wines. You only need to glance at a wine map of Germany to see why. This is Riesling’s Côte d’Or; a series of sheer, south facing, rocky slopes that maximise exposure to the sun and protect the vines from the bitter northern winds. It is this confluence of natural elements that enables Riesling to perfectly ripen at this very marginal, northern climate. With some of the highest (up to 780 ft ASL) and most revered vineyards in the region, Robert Weil is today the superstar of the Rheingau.

The 2020 Vintage at Weingut Robert Weil

“After 2018 and 2019, 2020 was the third warm vintage in a row in the Rheingau. After the very dry year of 2019, the winter of 2019/20 was fortunately very wet and replenished the water reserves—this was an important prerequisite for the 2020 vintage,” explains Wilhelm Weil, who filled a fantastic collection of 2020 Rieslings. Not only was budbreak very early, it was once again one of the earliest vintages in recent decades. Nevertheless, 2020 was not a vintage of records like the years before—the weather in spring and summer was too unstable overall. However, the temperatures were again high overall, so one must speak of another warm vintage.

The 2020 vintage draws its goodness from a “terrific late summer and early fall,” and “the last few weeks before and during the harvest made this vintage,” said Weil, who calls the wine qualities “exceptional.” He continued to say that “the weather ended up being so brilliantly warm and dry that we were able to process perfectly healthy and physiologically ripe grapes. … The balance of extract, acidity and sweetness is just about perfect in our Kiedrich Rieslings.”

But for the harvest to end up so outstanding, the grapes had to be divided in the summer to reduce the quantity, because the year had great yields. In 2020, the reduction in harvest volume already ensured enormously strong qualities in the generic Rheingau Rieslings, based on must weights of 85° to 86° Oechsle. However, as in all of Germany, it was hardly possible to produce high-ranking noble sweet Prädikat wines in the Rheingau. Nevertheless, Weil has managed to do so again, albeit in very manageable quantities. Otherwise, the Prädikats from Kabinett to Auslese (picked at 120° to 140° Oechsle) shine brightly. They are characterized by their pure, bright and elegant fruit as well as by “grandiose acids.” The grapes for the Auslese Rieslings were harvested without any botrytis. Rather, they were perfectly healthy berries that had been dried by wind and sun. “I, at least, have never experienced such crystal-clear fruit in this purity as in our 2020s,” said Weil, who has also been in charge of production for more than 30 years now. With the clear fruit comes very good concentration and with it precise, equally clear acidity, which can reach 11.7 grams per liter.” This is absolutely extraordinary, these bright colors, this purity and concentration,” Weil enthuses, but he resolutely points out the high personnel and time requirements. “We have harvested about 50% less than the long-term average but have doubled the personnel input.

We can really taste that in the wines. The 2020s are possibly the most fascinating collection of the last 30 years.

Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate

Where in the World is Weingut Robert Weil?

Weil is based in the Rheingau just to the north of the Rheinhessen on the western border of Germany.

Map by Fernando Beteta, MS @fernandobeteta on Twitter