Kiedrich is a beautifully small village set a couple kilometers back from the Rhein river, surrounded by lush vineyards and pristine forest.  It is mostly famous for two things – an amazing gothic cathedral and an amazing wine maker.

Weingut Robert Weil

In September of 2010, at an annual auction of German sweet wines, a Robert Weil trockenbeerenauslese (typically the sweetest of the sweeties) from the Grafenberg vineyard netted a price of 4,300 euros for a single bottle – the largest sum ever paid for a current release in the world.  Needless to say, these wines are very good and highly sought after.  So, when we rocked up on our bicycles with no appointment, our expectations were pretty low.  However, we were graciously welcomed into the modern tasting area and quickly had a line up of trocken (the driest style of rieslings in this area) wines poured for us.

Our experience at Robert Weil was fantastic and provided a great jumping off point for the rest of our time in Germany.  As far as rieslings from the Rheingau area go, these became a benchmark going forward.  Here are a few notes we jotted:

2011 Kiedrich Klosterberg Riesling trocken – tart fruits and some grassy notes, particularly on the finish.  Crisp with some bite.

2011 Kiedrich Turmberg Riesling trocken – more minerality than the Klosterberg with hints of white pepper and a great waxy honey comb finish.

2011 Kiedrich Grafenberg Riesling trocken – a bit more floral than the others, with strong aromas of citrus fruit (in particular lime).  On the palate, a real zest-fest with grapefruit and lemon.

2011 Kiedrich Grafenberg Riesling spatlese – 103 g/L of residual sugar, but still a lovely balance.  The difference between the spatlese and the kabinett is noticeable but not aggressively sweeter – just richer.

2011 Kiedrich Grafenberg Riesling auslese – 136 g/L of residual sugar.  Now, there is a step change in flavors and aromatics despite the small jump in sugar.  The florals are still there, but front and center is an amazing candied citrus fruit zest drizzled with honey.

2008 Kiedrich Grafenberg Riesling beerenauslese goldkapsel – 350 g/L of residual sugar.  To imagine 2 additional wines with higher levels of residual sugar (eiswein and trockenbeerenauslese) is difficult.  This is such a thick, rich wine that a half bottle could probably be dessert for four people.  The acidity is certainly there playing it’s part to balance things out, but if I didn’t see this honey-like nectar poured from a bottle I could swear it was squeezed out of a plastic bear.

Next post will be about Day 2 where we cycled our way from Oestrich-Winkel to Boppard with a few tastings along the way…