Weingut Robert Weil

The Robert Weil winery is located in Kiedrich in the Rheingau in Germany. The vineyards are situated on the foothills of the Taunus and extend up to around 240 metres above sea level. Kiedricher Klosterberg, Turmberg and Gräfenberg are south-west facing steep sites with slopes of up to 60 percent. Sunlight, high temperatures and air circulation enabled by Taunus winds shape the conditions of the site.

The soils of the sites are stony and coarse-grained. At the Klosterberg, among other things, Devonian coloured slate, phyllite and sericite gneiss are found; the Turmberg has slate as well as high proportions of phyllite and loess loam. At the Gräfenberg, phyllite, loess loam and water-retaining layers alternate. The winery farms around 90 hectares fully certified organic, using organic fertiliser, cover cropping and without herbicides. The vines are planted at about 5,000 to 6,000 plants per hectare; some are over 50 years old.

The winery grows only Riesling. Harvest usually begins no earlier than October and is carried out selectively by hand in repeated passes. Depending on the wine style, well-bodied dry Rieslings are produced as well as lighter, fruitier and naturally sweet wines up to the level of Trockenbeerenauslese. After gentle pressing, the musts are clarified through natural settling and fermented for about six to twelve weeks with temperature control. Well-bodied dry wines mature in wooden barrels, while lighter and sweet wines mature in stainless steel tanks.

In 1867, Dr. Robert Weil acquired the first vineyards on the Kiedricher Berg and founded the winery in the 19th century. Since 1907, it has been a member of the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter. The Kiedricher Klosterberg, Kiedricher Wasseros and Kiedricher Turmberg are classified as VDP.ERSTE LAGE, and the Kiedricher Gräfenberg as VDP.GROSSE LAGE. In 2005, the Turmberg was reclassified as a single vineyard as a 3.8-hectare monopoly of the winery.