Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - 68

TOP 100 WINERIES 2017

C. von Schubert

Robert Weil

In a small valley off the Mosel River, the von Schuberts uphold the reputation
of an estate that's been famed for its wines for centuries.

When it comes to German sweet wines, no vintner produces more exceptional
examples than Weil.

Hallowed Land: A vineyard since Roman times, the Maximin Grünhaus estate was farmed by the Benedictine monks of Saint Maximin
in Trier from the seventh through the 18th century. They qualified
the parcels on this hillside above the Saar River, saving the grapes
grown on the highest gray-slate parcel to make wines for the abbot
(Abtsberg), the fruit off the redder slate below for the choirmasters (Herrenberg), and the grapes grown closest to the river for the
monks (Brüderberg). The von Schubert family, who've run the estate
since 1882, continue to honor those distinctions with their wines.

Fairy-Tale Estate: It's hard to miss the Robert Weil winery, with its
fairy-tale manor house surrounded by hillsides of impeccably manicured vineyards. In Rheingau terms, it's relatively new, founded by
Robert Weil in 1875. A professor of German at the Sorbonne, he'd
taken refuge in the town of Kiedrich just before the Franco-Prussian War, buying a small vineyard and large manor house. Soon
he bought the neighboring estates as well, include the Gräfenberg,
planted to vines since 1109. Today, his great-grandson, Wilhem Weil,
runs the estate, overseeing 222 acres of vines.

Wine for the Brothers: German wine expert David Schildknecht
recalled a visit with Carl von Schubert, the fifth generation to run the
estate, in a story for W&S (Fall 2012). Von Schubert had driven up
the hill, stopping every 20 meters to ask Schildknecht to taste some
grapes and let him know when they'd entered a different vineyard.
"Sure enough," Schildknecht reported, "I could taste in the grapes
the precursors of those characteristics I found in the wines, in particular that citricity and pungency of red slate Herrenberg." The largest of the three vineyards at 47 acres, Herrenberg is the sweet spot of
the estate, steeper and stonier than the Brüderberg, but with enough
moisture retained in the soil to sustain the vines through a hot, dry
summer like 2015. That year, the vineyard turned out an array of
exceptional wines, topped by an opulent Spätlese, ruddy spice and
red-fleshed peach tones filling out its firm, lemony acid structure. It
also produced an intensely juicy, energetic QbA Superior.

The Gräfenberg: Gräfenberg is one of Rheingau's most esteemed vineyards, a steep, southwest-facing slope of phyllite-a stone similar to
slate and schist. Sunny, yet cooled by breezes off the Taunus mountains, the site is famed for its ability to ripen grapes well into November. Even Weil's Kabinetts from this site tend to feel richer than their
counterparts from other wineries, as do the late-harvest wines. The
2015 Kiedrich Gräfenberg Spätlese is a classic example: It's dense and
powerful, with sweet, juicy fruit infused by acidity that keeps it feeling long and sleek. The Auslese 2015 is more powerful, the sweetness
firmly landing it in the dessert-wine realm while the snap and clarity
of the acidity suggests the wine will age well for decades.

Indian Summer: 2015 was
an easy vintage compared
to 2014, plagued by the
coolest, dampest August
in decades. And yet the
monumental Herrenberg
Kabinett 2014 topped all
the wines we tasted from
the estate this year: It's a
Carl von Schubert & Stefan Kraml
well of cool mineral flavor
and fruit that feels nearly
red in its intensity, a taste
of Indian summer on this particular red-slate hillside.
And a testament to the work of von Schubert and Stefan
Kraml, his right-hand man since 2004, to care for this
hallowed slope. -T.Q.T.

DETAILS & TOP WINES
Founded: 966 * Winemaker/viticulturist: Stefan Kraml
Owners: Carl & Maximin von Schubert * Acres owned: 78
Annual production: 12,500 cases * Estate grown: 100%
Importer: Loosen Bros. USA, Salem, OR * Website:
vonschubert.com
94 2014 Mosel Kabinett Maximin Grünhauser
Herrenberg Riesling $34 (12/16)
93 2015 Mosel Spätlese Maximin Grünhauser
Herrenberg Riesling $38 (12/16)
92 2015 Mosel QbA Superior Maximin Grünhauser
Herrenberg Riesling $59 (12/16)

G ERMANY M OSEL
68

WINE & SPIRITS

BUYING GUIDE 2018

The Stuff of Legends: Attaining the ripeness necessary
for Trockenbeerenauslesen is challenging, as the
wines require waiting long into the fall for fully
botrytised grapes. Yet Weil has managed to
produce wines at every step of the Prädikat
classification for 27 vintages straight. This is
due, in part, to Suntory, which first invested
in the estate in 1988; its backing allows
Weil to be obsessive about his vines, sending a team of 30 into the vineyards for successive harvests to cull the grapes. His 2015
Wilhelm Weil
TBA, from a warm vintage, is spellbinding.
Rising above 200 degrees Oeschle, it's a force of
nature more than a wine, a satin-textured, shining golden elixir of honeyed flavor that extends from
truffles to the platonic ideal of apricots. While it's priced
to match its rarity, it's the sort of wine that cements the
winery's place among the Rheingau's legends. -T.Q.T.

DETAILS & TOP WINES
Founded: 1875 * Winemaker/viticulturist: Wilhelm Weil
Owners: Suntory & Wilhelm Weil * Acres owned: 222
Annual production: 47,000 cases * Estate grown: 100%
Importer: Loosen Bros. USA, Salem, OR * Website:
weingut-robert-weil.com
95 2015 Rheingau Kiedrich Gräfenberg TBA $775
94 2015 Rheingau Spätlese Kiedrich Gräfenberg $92
93 2015 Rheingau Kiedrich Gräfenberg Auslese $182
(all riesling, 12/16)

G ERMANY R HEINGAU

http://www.vonschubert.com http://www.weingut-robert-weil.com

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