Robert Weil Kiedrich Grafenberg Riesling Auslese (375ML half-bottle) 2020
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Parker
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Suckling
James -
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Winemaker Notes
Produced from a special selection of very ripe clusters, usually (but not always) with a fair amount of botrytis. Auslese is a lush, intensely fruity wine, with a massive, yet elegant structure. The immense sweetness is beautifully balanced by firm acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Kiedrich Gräfenberg Riesling Auslese is impressively deep, precise and refined on the nose, with fine slate and highly precise fruit aromas. Round and lush on the palate, with crystalline acidity and highly stimulating salinity, this is a dense, gorgeously piquant and mouth-filling Auslese with remarkable precision, grip and salinity on the finish.
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James Suckling
A firework display of exotic-fruit aromas that makes me want to abandon cloudy Northern Europe for the tropics! Such mouth-filling and sensual succulence makes it impossible to resist, but the best thing is the intense brilliance at the super-concentrated and very pure finish. Drink or hold.
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Wine & Spirits
Chantilly-cream light and sweet, this is a confection of airy strawberryapricot flavors that glide over the palate with the shivery smoothness of silk. It comes from Wilhelm Weil’s most prized vineyard, a steep, grand cru–rated parcel of deep loam, loess and phyllite over slate, a soil structure that allowed the vines to weather the dry heat of summer 2020. Picked over the course of a month, from October 13 to November 12, more than sweetness, the wine shows the concentrated ripeness of the grapes, the fruit taking on a warm red cast. A mineral salinity adds a mouthwatering savor that makes the wine surprisingly easy to drink.
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Wine Spectator
Thickly textured and pungent in aroma, this dessert-style white delivers dried apricot, fig, raisin and toasted brown spice flavors supported by a spine of bracing acidity, which keeps this fresh and long.
Other Vintages
2018-
Parker
Robert
Weingut Robert Weil, one of the region's younger estates, is located in the heart of Kiedrich, a village first documented in 950. Its profile is marked by the artworks and architecture of the Gothic parish church St. Valentine, aristocratic Gothic, Renaissance manors, and the tower of Scharfenstein castle, a former residence of the electors and archbishops of Mainz.
The estate cultivates vineyards planted 100% with Riesling grapes. Wilhelm Weil, the great-grandson of the estate's founder, carries on the tradition of uncompromising, quality-oriented practices in the vineyards and in the cellars. 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.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Practically one long and bucolic hillside along the northern bank of the Rhein River, the Rheingau stretches the entirety of the river’s east to west spread from Hocheim to Rüdesheim.
Variations in elevation, soil types, and proximity to the Rhine cause great diversity in Rheingau Riesling. Some of the better Rieslings in warmer years come from the cooler and breezier sites at higher elevations. In cooler years, sites closer to the river may perform better.
In the village of Rüdesheim, slopes are steep and soils are stony slate with quartzite; Rieslings are rich and spicy, intense in stone fruit and show depth and character with age. World class Rieslings come from farther east on the river through Geisenheim, Johannisberg, Winkel, Oestrich and past Erbach as well, where soils of loess, sand, and marl alternate. Long-living, floral-driven and mineral-rich Rieslings come from the best of these sites.
Rheingau growers became early activists in promoting the dry style of Riesling, low yields and the classification of top vineyards, or Erstes Gewächs (first growths). Proximity to the metropolitan markets of Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Frankfurt keeps Rheingau in high reputation. While dry wines are the style here, Rheingau isn’t short of some amazing Auslesen, Beerenauslesen, and Trockenbeerenauslesen.
Rheingau doesn’t mess with many other grapes—in fact 79% of its total area is dedicated to Riesling. But it produces some fine Pinot noir, especially concentrated in Assmannshausen, a bit farther west from Rüdesheim.