Gems from Robert Weil

One question that I am often asked is whether Riesling is better dry or sweet? The answer is seldom black or white. This is not to say that it is about shades of grey, but rather that Riesling is one of the few varieties that excels in more than one discipline. What, then, is the nature of an individual vineyard? Are there some sites that consistently produce only one style of wine well? Or can a grape, like Riesling, be good at more than one thing?

That is the question that Wilhelm Weil from the Robert Weil estate in Kiedrich wanted to answer. His Gräfenberg vineyard high in the hills above the Rhine in the Rheingau is classified at a Grosses Gewächs - or Grand Cru. For many collectors, he is one of Germany’s star producers of noble late harvest Rieslings, with his Spätleses, Ausleses und Trockenbeerenauleses regularly being some of the finest wines of any given vintage; but the estate also has a long history of bottling excellent dry Rieslings. Is one better than the other?