Robert Weil Kiedrich Turmberg Riesling Trocken 2024

Robert Weil Kiedrich Turmberg Riesling Trocken is a dry Riesling from the estate's classified monopole vineyard at Kiedrich.

Tower hill is what the name means, after the last surviving tower of the twelfth-century Burg Scharfenstein, which stands dramatically above the vines. The 1971 German wine law folded this 3.8-hectare site into neighbouring Gräfenberg, and it took until 2005 for Wilhelm Weil to have it reinstated in the register as a separate vineyard, which it had historically been. Though now classified Grosse Lage, he still bottles only an Erste Lage from it, explaining that a pyramid has room for one tip. The vines are thirty to fifty years old on pure rocky slate, which gives the most linear, coiled wine in the lineup.

Tight, precise and dry, with lime, green apple, flint and a steely, saline finish that draws out slowly. Serve at 11 degrees. Very good with oysters, sashimi, poached chicken, or a plate of smoked trout and dill.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.

Type: White Wine
Style: Medium-bodied, dry
Grape Varietal: Riesling
Tastes Like: A dry, single-vineyard German Riesling with real depth and a long, firm finish, in the style of a top dry Riesling from Germany or Alsace
Alcohol Percentage: 13% (est.)
Closure: Cork
Size: 750mL
Appellation: Rheingau, Qualitätswein trocken (dry); VDP.Erste Lage (a first-class classified vineyard, the third step of the VDP's four-tier classification)
Region: Rheingau, Germany
Terroir: Kiedrich Turmberg: a 3.8-hectare monopole (owned solely by the estate) of rocky slate below the tower of Burg Scharfenstein
Aging: Spontaneous fermentation in 2,400-litre Doppelstück oak casks, then aged on its full lees, without sulphur, until filtration
Serving Temperature: 10-12°C

Weingut Robert Weil is the family estate at Kiedrich in the Rheingau, the stretch of Germany's Rhine west of Wiesbaden where the vineyards look south over the river. Dr Robert Weil, a professor of German at the Sorbonne in Paris, bought his first vineyards in Kiedrich in 1867 and founded the estate in 1875. Four generations of the family have run it, and the founder's great-grandson Wilhelm Weil has led it since 1987. The estate grows only Riesling, on about 90 hectares, with its classified hillside vineyards on slopes of up to 60 per cent, facing south-west and rising to 240 metres. Grapes are picked by hand in several selective passes, the full range of Prädikat levels has been harvested in every vintage since 1989, the estate is certified organic, and it has been a member of the VDP, the association of Germany's leading wine estates, since 1907.

The Turmberg is a 3.8-hectare monopole of rocky slate below the tower of Burg Scharfenstein, the castle above Kiedrich built around 1160. It was reinstated as an individual vineyard in 2005. Spontaneous fermentation in large Doppelstück casks and ageing on full lees give the wine texture without oak character. 2024 was a wet year that refilled the soils' water reserves; budburst came about ten days early, a late-April frost passed without damage, and harvest began at the end of September. Turmberg was picked in mid-October with the other hillside sites.

Fish: Pan-fried fish with potatoes and mustard sauce
Seafood: Scallops with brown butter
Asian Dishes: Sashimi or steamed fish with ginger
Poultry: Chicken with tarragon cream

Tomme de Savoie: Mild and earthy, a gentle match
Allgäuer Emmentaler: Nutty and mild, good with a dry Riesling
Crottin de Chavignol: A firm goat's cheese that loves high-acid whites
Gruyère (young): Creamy and gently nutty

Hamburger Pannfisch (Hamburg Pan-Fried Fish with Potatoes and Mustard Sauce)

Ingredients (Serves 4):

• 600g firm white fish fillets (cod, blue-eye or snapper), cut into large pieces
• 800g waxy potatoes, boiled in their skins, peeled and sliced
• 2 brown onions, sliced
• 4 tbsp sunflower oil and 30g butter
• Plain flour, for dusting
• Mustard sauce: 30g butter, 1 tbsp plain flour, 300mL fish stock, 100mL pouring cream, 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• Salt, pepper and chopped parsley

Instructions:

1. Make the sauce: melt the butter, stir in the flour, whisk in the stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cream and mustard, season and keep warm without boiling.
2. Fry the potatoes in half the oil and butter until golden and crisp, adding the onions halfway. Season and keep warm.
3. Season the fish and dust with flour. Fry in the remaining oil over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes each side until golden and just cooked.
4. Pile the potatoes onto plates and top with the fish.
5. Spoon over the mustard sauce and scatter with parsley.

Pannfisch began as Hamburg's thrifty way of using up the day's leftover fish and potatoes in one pan, and it is now a proud local classic with its mustard sauce. A tight, dry Turmberg Riesling is a great partner: its acidity cuts the crisp potatoes and butter and stands up to the mustard.