2021 Weingut Robert Weil, Riesling Feinherb, Estate Tradition, Rheingau, Germany.
The beautiful, aromatic and brightly generous 2021 Riesling Tradition by Weingut Robert Weil is a rewarding and pleasure filled wine that clearly and with some precision shows off its terroir and while slightly off dry, has a crisp, mineral toned personality that comes across more textural than sweet. I have long been a fan of this winery and have sat in on panels with Wilhelm Weil, the great-grandson of the estate’s founder and who oversees this classic Rheingau property, as well as visiting Kiedrich and taking in the views of the village’s name sake vineyards, which are Grosse Lage sites, that provides some of the grapes for this wine. The slightly floral and flinty Tradition shows off a mix of citrus, apple, subtle tropical and tart apricot fruits on the light to medium bodied and crystalline palate and is backed up nicely by the steely, spicy and saline notes, adding a hint of leesy richness and that balanced by the underlying tension. This wine is fine tuned and pure with juicy fruitiness and refreshment, perfect for Summer sipping with lighter foods, though also very capable of going with a touch of heat in the cuisine, matching up with Asian dishes very well.
The Weingut Robert Weil was established back in 1875, which for the Rheingau isn’t all that old, especially when you consider that its home village Kiedrich, according to the winery was first documented in 950 A.D. The winery sits right below the GG vineyards of Kiedrich Turmberg and Kiedrich Gräfenberg, which majestically rise up at about a 60 percent grade toward a wild and dense forest and set on a complex combination of stony phyllite partially mixed with loess and loam soils. This area of Rheingau is less humid and sees a bit less river influence, set up and away from the widest point of the Rhein with steep hillside vines that ripen a bit later. The wines here are complex, deep and lend themselves to a dry style mostly, though you see a full range produced by Robert Weil from classic Kabinett and Spatlese to their powerful set of Grosses Gewachs. The Estate bottlings, the Estate Trocken and this Riesling Tradition are great wines to get started here and are sublime wines for the price. Typically made from Weil’s sites in Kiedrich and lower down in Eltville the 2021Tradition, which feels drier than you’d expect, saw extra care in the vineyards with smaller yields than normal due to the harsh green harvest, which adds to the quality and class found here. This wine, which is made to be enjoyed young, sees stainless steel fermentation and aging, that promotes the utmost clarity of form, it is always a treat in the glass.
($30 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive