The Robert Weil estate is a shining symbol of German Riesling culture. There is not a wine merchant worth his salt who does not sing the praises of Weil’s Rieslings and the wines enjoy a worldwide reputation.
In spite of this the Weils are modest people who credit the quality of their wines to the unique land and soil conditions of the estate. The vineyards are planted in an environmentally–friendly way and very low yields are taken by traditional manual selective harvesting. The picking is done in as many as twenty passes to ensure optimum ripeness, often going on well into December. The estate can boast the unique world record of, since 1989, picking grapes which qualify for all quality levels right up to Trockenbeerenauslese. And these Trockenbeerenauslesen are now fetching the highest prices on the world market at auction.
Fortunately for lesser mortals, Wilhelm Weil also makes affordable Rieslings, which are equally sought after amongst specialist independent retailers and the cognoscenti of the restaurant trade. With a total production of just half a million bottles, the lion’s share remains in Germany. It is no wonder a recent article on Wilhelm Weil in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper was simply titled – “Mr Riesling”.
