Robert Weil Kiedricher Riesling Trocken 2024

Robert Weil Kiedricher Riesling Trocken is a dry village Riesling blended from the estate's classified hillside sites.

First-picked parcels from the three classified hillside vineyards at Kiedrich, Klosterberg, Turmberg and Gräfenberg, make up this blend, with a measure of Wasseros fruit added in. That is a serious set of origins for a village wine, and it shows as a clear step up from the entry bottling: more texture, more power, and considerably rockier mineral intensity. To carry that weight, a third of the wine is raised for six months in large Stockinger Doppelstückfass, a traditional Rheingau cask that adds breadth without leaving oak flavour behind. Weil has farmed at Kiedrich since 1875, and this is the wine that shows what the village tastes like.

Dry and firm, with lemon, white peach, herbs and a stony, faintly smoky finish. Serve at 11 degrees. A good match for roast pork, grilled fish, a chicken and asparagus salad, or a plate of charcuterie and gherkins.

*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 German Riesling with more weight and grip than a basic estate Riesling, made in a precise, dry style
Alcohol Percentage: 12% (est.)
Closure: Screwcap (est.)
Size: 750mL
Appellation: Rheingau, Qualitätswein trocken (dry); VDP.Ortswein (village wine, the second step of the VDP's four-tier classification)
Region: Rheingau, Germany
Terroir: First-picked parcels of the estate's classified Kiedrich hillside sites (Klosterberg, Turmberg and Gräfenberg) with some Wasseros; barren phyllite soils
Aging: One third raised for six months in large 2,400-litre Doppelstück oak casks, the rest in stainless steel
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.

First-picked parcels from Kiedrich's three classified hillside vineyards, Klosterberg, Turmberg and Gräfenberg, make up this village wine, with some Wasseros fruit added. That is a serious set of origins for a village wine, and it shows as a step up from the estate Riesling. A third of the wine is raised for six months in large Doppelstück casks. 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.

Vegetarian: Bread dumplings with creamy mushrooms
Pork: Pork schnitzel with lemon
Seafood: Smoked trout with horseradish cream
Charcuterie: Ham, salami and gherkins

Allgäuer Bergkäse: A firm mountain cheese from Bavaria with nutty depth
Vacherin Fribourgeois: A semi-soft Swiss cheese, creamy and savoury
Camembert: Rich and creamy, freshened by the wine's acidity
Romadur: A mild washed-rind cheese from southern Germany

Semmelknödel mit Pilzrahm (Bread Dumplings with Creamy Mushrooms)

Ingredients (Serves 4):

• Dumplings: 300g day-old white bread rolls, cut into 1cm cubes
• 250mL warm milk
• 1 small brown onion, finely chopped
• 20g butter
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg
• Mushrooms: 500g mixed mushrooms (Swiss brown, oyster, pine mushrooms or chanterelles), sliced
• 30g butter and 1 French shallot, chopped
• 1/2 cup (125mL) dry Riesling
• 200mL pouring cream
• Chives, to serve

Instructions:

1. Pour the warm milk over the bread and leave for 15 minutes. Soften the onion in the butter and add it with the eggs, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix gently to a dough that holds together.
2. With wet hands, shape into 8 dumplings. Simmer in a large pot of gently bubbling salted water for 18-20 minutes, without boiling hard.
3. Meanwhile, fry the mushrooms in the butter over high heat until golden, add the shallot for 2 minutes, then pour in the Riesling and reduce by half.
4. Add the cream and simmer until lightly thickened. Season.
5. Lift out the dumplings with a slotted spoon, spoon the mushrooms over and scatter with chives.

Semmelknödel, dumplings made from day-old bread rolls, are a staple of southern German and Alpine kitchens, and served with creamy wild mushrooms they become a vegetarian autumn favourite. A village Riesling has the acidity to cut the cream and the body to stand up to the mushrooms.