The Rheingau part of the Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014) began with a visit of 2 “holy” places – the Basilica of Saint Valentine and Weingut Robert Weil in Kiedrich.
Weingut Robert Weil is without any doubt the Rheingau’s flagship winery. It is currently managed and co-owned by Wilhelm Weil. We were hosted by Wilhelm Weil’s personal assistant, Jan Christensen. The visit included a cellar tour, a look at the vineyards and a tasting in the garden of Weingut Robert Weil
Basilica of Saint Valentine in Kiedrich
A very special treat was the visit of the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Kiedrich. Kiedrich is a 1000 year old wine-growing community and famous for its completely preserved Gothic architecture. The organ in the Saint Valentine church dates from the late Gothic period and is the oldest playable organ in Germany. Since 1330, every Sunday at High Mass a boys and men choir (recently girls have been allowed to join) sings liturgial Latin plainsongs (Gregorian chants) in a special dialect only preserved here.
Weingut Robert Weil
Founded in 1875, Weingut Robert Weil in Kiedrich is the Rheingau’s #1 estate and one of Germany’s best. Four generations and over a century ago Dr. Robert Weil, who was a Professor of German at the Sorbonne, was forced to leave Paris because of the Franco-Prussian War (1870/1871). He subsequently joined his brother August in Kiedrich in the Rheingau and established the Robert Weil winery.
Dr. Robert Weil purchased his first vineyards in Kiedrich and moved there in 1875, when he bought the estate manor from the heirs of Sir John Sutton, an English baronet. A man of vision, he built up the estate by purchasing 2 local wine estates and the vineyards of Count von Fürstenberg. Contacts throughout the world and the production of great wines brought rapid growth to the Weingut Robert Weil.
Today, Weingut Robert Weil is managed by Wilhelm Weil, who owns the winery jointly with Suntory from Japan. With 75 hectares under vine, it is one of the largest estates in the Rheingau. The historical manor house, the ultra-modern cellars and the vinothek stand side by side in a beautiful park – the same synthesis of old and new that is reflected in the estate’s philosophy of winemaking.
In 1988, the estate was sold by Robert Weil to the Japanese beverage group Suntory, and his son Wilhelm appointed as estate director.
The vineyards are planted 100% with Riesling. The estate’s dedication to Riesling since 1875 has led numerous observers of the international wine world to regard Weingut Robert Weil as a worldwide symbol of German Riesling culture. A Riesling wine of the 1893 vintage, grown on the Gräfenberg site, made the estate famous. The imperial Habsburg court in Vienna purchased 800 bottles of this wine at a price of 16 gold Marks per bottle in 1900. The 1920 vintage of the Kiedricher Gräfenberg Trockenbeerenauslese is described as a Zeppelin wine, as it was served on board the LZ 127 „Graf Zeppelin” dirigible on its circumnavigation of the world in 1929. Robert Weil’s top botrytis wines are sold today at extremely high prices - they are among the most expensive in the world. The current world record (in 2006) is held by a 1999 Weil Trockenbeerenauslese, at DM 5.000 (EUR 2500).
Weingut Robert Weil’s top vineyards all belong to the group of the highlying sites of the Rheingau: Kiedricher Klosterberg, Kiedricher Turmberg and Kiedricher Gräfenberg. Inclination (up to 60 %), exposure (southwest) and the ability of the barren stony soils to absorb heat are the factors that make for three perfect Riesling sites. These conditions, as well as ideal circulation, enable the grapes to remain on the vine for a long time, ripening well into November.
What Jan Poured
2011 Robert Weil Rheingau Riesling Sekt Brut
2013 Weingut Robert Weil Rheingau Riesling Trocken VDP.Gutswein
2013 Kiedricher Riesling Trocken VDP.Ortswein
2013 Kiedricher Klosterberg Riesling Trocken VDP.ErsteLage
2013 Kiedricher Turmberg Riesling Trocken VDP.ErsteLage
2013 Kiedricher Gräfenberg Riesling Trocken VDP.GrosseLage
2013 Kiedricher Turmberg Riesling Spätlese VDP.ErsteLage
2006 Kiedricher Turmberg Riesling Spätlese VDP.ErsteLage
schiller-wine: Related Postings
4 Wine Tours by ombiasy coming up in 2015: Germany-East, Germany-South. Germany-Nord and Bordeaux
Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy, 2014
Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy, 2014
Weingut Pawis (Saale Unstrut): Estate Tour and Wine Tasting with Kerstin Pawis– Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Weingut Kloster Pforta: Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting with Managing Director Christian Kloss – Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Winzerhof Gussek in the Saale Unstrut Region: Cellar Tour, Vineyard Tour and Tasting with Owner and Winemaker André Gussek – Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Tour and Tasting at the Historic Weingut Juliusspital in Würzburg, Franken– Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Weingut Bickel-Stumpf in Franken: Vineyard Walk and Wine Tasting with Reimund Stumpf, Matthias Stumpf and Melanie Stumpf-Kröger - Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
schiller-wine: Related Postings (Weingut Robert Weil)
Christian G.E. Schiller's Review of the Book: Ralf Frenzel (ed.) - Riesling, Robert Weil. Tre Torri, Wiesbaden, Germany, 2013, in: Journal of Wine Economics, Volume 9, 2014, No. 1, Cambridge University Press
Deputy Managing Director Jochen Becker-Köhn and Export Director Nicolas Pfaff of Weingut Robert Weil in Singapore
Weingut Robert Weil, Kiedrich, Rheingau, Germany: Super Sommerfest/Summer Party 2014
Weingut Robert Weil Goes Facebook, Germany
German Riesling and International Grape Varieties – Top Wine Makers Wilhelm Weil and Markus Schneider at Kai Buhrfeindt’s Grand Cru in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Visiting Wilhelm Weil at his Weingut Robert Weil in Kiedrich, Germany
Tasting with Wilhelm Weil the 2010 Weingut Weil Wines in Kiedrich, Germany
The German Winemakers at the 4th Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle, USA
The 2nd International Riesling Symposium in the Rheingau, Germany
Steffen Christmann (Weingut A. Christmann) and Wilhelm Weil (Weingut Robert Weil) Presented the New Wine Classification of the VDP, Germany
Weingut Robert Weil, Kiedrich, Rheingau, Germany: Super Sommerfest/Summer Party 2014
Weingut Robert Weil Goes Facebook, Germany
German Riesling and International Grape Varieties – Top Wine Makers Wilhelm Weil and Markus Schneider at Kai Buhrfeindt’s Grand Cru in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Visiting Wilhelm Weil at his Weingut Robert Weil in Kiedrich, Germany
Tasting with Wilhelm Weil the 2010 Weingut Weil Wines in Kiedrich, Germany
The German Winemakers at the 4th Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle, USA
The 2nd International Riesling Symposium in the Rheingau, Germany
Steffen Christmann (Weingut A. Christmann) and Wilhelm Weil (Weingut Robert Weil) Presented the New Wine Classification of the VDP, Germany
3 Wine Tours by ombiasy Coming up in 2014: Germany-North, Germany-South and Bordeaux