2013 Riesling QbA Trocken

Very clear, spicy and invitingly fruity on the nose, the 2013 Riesling Trocken has de facto Spätlese level. Picked with 88° oechsle this Estate wine was fermented mainly in stainless steel but 10% were fermented in a traditional oak vat. Medium-bodied, pure, racy and very clear on the palate this quite rich, intense, juicy, lovely piquant and stimulating Riesling offers lingering flavors of mangoes and nectarines. This is an excellent entry level indeed||With the new state-of-the-art winery the wines of Robert Weil seem to have become even better and more precise as they used to be. The 2013s are almost perfect in the combination of density, complexity, precision, finesse and expression. Starting with the "simple" Gutswein the whole range is really impressive with enough highlights like the delicious Rheingau Kabinett Tradition, the terrific Gräfenberg Grosses Gewächs or the Gräfenberg Spätlese or the higher predicates. There is only one dilemma: We will not live long enough to appreciate especially the higher predicates from Auslese onwards at their peaks. However, there are enough great 2013s bottled for all of us. ||With the introduction of the Turmberg and Klosterberg single vineyard wines a couple of years ago the grand cru character of the Kiedrich Gräfenberg in all categories has been exposed even clearer. Weil has bottled several legendary wines from this famous south-west facing slope in 2013. On the other hand we discover the virtues of the premier crus as well which are fascinating wines as well and applicable more easily than the aristocratic and sophisticated Gräfenberg grand cru. ||Weil's team did a terrific job in the rainy autumn of 2013. The main harvest began October 14 and was often interrupted by rainfall, so a rigorous selection was indispensable to receive perfect ripe and healthy berries. There was no single botrytis berry, at least in the dry crus which were harvested from October 23 onwards with 95° Oechsle or so, and followed by the Spätlese before the berries turned over-ripe. The man harvest was finished by November 3rd due to the wet weather conditions. But Weil would not be Weil ("We aim for all predicates in every single vintage") if he had given up. In certain parcels he picked grapes for Auslesen und Beerenauslesen under adverse weather conditions still in November and even December. These are very rare but stunning wines with must weights up to 201° Oechsle and acidity levels of 10.5 g/l. The only drop of bitterness: there was no Eiswein made because it was not cold enough. On the other hand Weil produced two Trockenbeerenauslesen (in the Turmberg and the Gräfenberg) which makes 25 vintages of TBA since 1989! eRobertParker.com.January, 2015