Winemaker Notes
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.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Kiedrich Turmberg Trocken offers a beautifully coolish, clear, precise and flinty as well as herbal, intense and refined bouquet of ripe Riesling aromas and crushed stones. Lush and piquant, this is a highly elegant, salty, piquant and mineral dry Riesling with a long and tensioned, very fine and promising finish. This is a classic in the making and should age terrifically. Very, very long and full of salt and music. 13% alcohol. 22,000 bottles were filled in early May 2019. Tasted from AP 47 19.
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Wine Spectator
Very graceful, this dry Riesling evokes concentrated flavors of nectarine, guava, jasmine and persimmon. Stony and minty notes add complexity and charm, firmed up by the acidity and structure. Ethereal finish. Approachable now, but will age. Best from 2022 through 2029.
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Wine & Spirits
Plump and juicy, this is a big-boned riesling that supports its sweet green-plum flavor with firm, mineral-driven acidity.
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.