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Wine Description
The Story
Kiedrich Turmberg Riesling Trocken is Robert Weil’s most intensely mineral-driven riesling. The thin, slate topsoil combined with a windswept cool micro-climate render wines of uncommon finesse and complexity. Aromas of chalk, talc, and white flowers along with telltale peach/apricot/apple. Bone dry, long flavors of stone fruit, grapefruit zest and an impenetrable earthiness make for exciting drinking.
Pour it with grilled swordfish, roast chicken or rosemary pork loin.
Wine Information
Kiedrich Turmberg
The name Turmberg (literally, tower hill) derives from the surviving keep (central tower) of the fomer castle Burg Scharfenstein. The archbishops of Mainz had the fortress built on the steep crag (240m/ 780 ft in altitude) northeast of Kiedrich in 1160. With it, the Rheingau sovereigns hoped to secure the eastern flank of the Rheingau as well as the important trade route that ran from Eltville to Limburg and Cologne. Cologne was a very important trade center in the Middle Ages, particularly for European wine. Other sources contend that the fortress was built to protect the neighboring hill Gräfenberg. After being cleared in 1109, it was planted with vines. The fortress was ultimately named after the “Scharfensteiner”– those who administered the property on behalf of the archbishops of Mainz. Scharfenstein’s tower and the double, six-spoked wheels in Mainz’s coat of arms have been depicted in Kiedrich’s seal and coat of arms since the Middle Ages.
With the wine law of 1971 and its amendment of the vineyard register, numerous traditional vineyards, like Turmberg, were incorporated into other sides. In 2005, the Turmberg parcel was reinstated as an individual vineyard site consisting of 3.8 ha (9.4 acres). It is solely owned by Weingut Robert Weil.
Turmberg lies on the slopes of a steep, slaty crag. Its stony-gritty soils consist primarily of phyllite mixed with small portions of loess and loam.
Vintage 2007
Germany Vintage Report 2007 / The phenomena of climate change and the resulting global warming also affected the year 2007. Once again, meteorological observations made it possible to establish record data: after a winter that was clearly too mild, the Spring weather in April and May was extremely warm. Additionally, although summer was often not very "summer", temperatures recorded during the growing season were the highest since record keeping began (1884), even breaking the record set in 2003.
Naturally, these climatic conditions had a considerable impact on the vines. A very hot April led to an extremely early explosion. Warm temperatures continued into May, so the vines flowered during the second half of the month – the earliest flowering since time immemorial. The heat lasted until early June and by mid-June the vegetation was more than three weeks ahead of schedule. The rather average weather during the rest of the summer reduced this lead. Nevertheless, the grapes began to ripen in the Rheingau on August 3 – precisely from the “record year” 2003. The difference is that the development of the grapes (after early flowering) continued more slowly and evenly , thanks to a better distribution of sunshine and precipitation than in 2003.
Due to this perfect weather regime, the vines had an optimal supply of water and nutrients, and despite the relatively early harvest (due to early flowering), the Riesling grapes could remain on the vines for a long time – an important factor for this grape variety.
Even the earliest harvested grapes had exceptionally high extract values (even higher than in 2005 and 2006) and showed perfect physiological maturity and well-developed aromas. As such, the early harvest yielded fine Kabinett and light Spätlese qualities which will be bottled as Qualitätswein (Gutsriesling).
Overall, ideal weather conditions allowed us to smoothly extend the harvest over seven weeks and selectively harvest the best grapes for the other Prädikat wines. For the 19th year in a row, we were able to harvest all Prädikat, including Trockenbeerenauslese with up to 256 degrees Oechsle, at our Grand Cru sites Kiedricher Gräfenberg and Kiedricher Turmberg.
In addition to the exceptionally high quality of the 2007 vintage, the wonderful climatic conditions of the year allowed us to obtain a higher yield. After five short years, this brings us back to our long-term average.