Prefer the old site?Launch →

Florian Weingart

In 2016, Weingart experienced a combination of high must weights, low acidity and sluggish fermentations that rarely finished anywhere near complete dryness. None of the aforementioned features is rare at his address – substitute “high acidity” in that last sentence and you have the rough parameters of his 2015s – but their combination made for a collection none of whose wines I sampled genuinely tasted dry and nearly all were soft and relatively broad. (As usual, I couldn’t taste the whole portfolio – and in fact missed Weingart’s own pick of his 2016 litter, a Hamm-Feuerlay Spätlese “Anarchie” – since quite a few wines that aren’t shipped to the U.S. were completely sold-out well ahead of my September 2017 winery visit.) Relative paucity of acidity then, rather than lack of ripe flavors, explains why Weingart elected not to essay any Auslese, or any Spätlese with significantly more than 20 grams of residual sugar. Strictly speaking, the character of Weingart 2016s that I have just described applies to his wines from Boppard and neighboring Spay. His parcels in Bacharach yielded generous, healthy acidities, but rather than showcasing Bacharach in any dedicated bottlings, he utilized its fruit for blending into some of his Boppard material. 2016 is hardly the first time that Weingart has faced very low yields and had to stretch things stylistically to come up with enough wines labeled “Kabinett,” but it’s a good thing he did, because as his wife Ulrike remarked “it was so hot here this summer [of 2017] that all the customers wanted to drink was Kabinett – which they think of as light and spritzy – and they didn’t buy the Spätlesen.” So what explained the sold-out Spätlese bottlings I didn’t get to taste? Well, there is also plenty of international demand for Weingart wines within the trade. If I had to pick a season for savoring the best Weingart 2016s I tasted – including those labeled “Kabinett” – I’d say their richness and caress best lends itself to winter months.

After many delays and tribulations further noted in my last report, Weingart’s new winery is finally a reality and he was in the process of installing equipment when I visited with him on site. Like his work in the vineyards and cellar, Weingart’s new facility is very much an original and reflects a combination of idealism and frugal practicality. Located at the edge of his Spay vineyards and below his house, it’s circular and sunk ten meters below-ground in the same mixture of loess and clay that supports his Pinot Noir, even though immediately adjacent is Riesling on sheer slate. Built by a firm specializing in silos, whose potential for adaptation immediately occurred to Weingart, the cellar features a vinificatory flow pattern unique to its unusual shape. Extremely energy-efficient, it’s built around a huge cylindrical concrete core that serves for water storage but consequently also for heat-exchange. “The shape also means you need much less steel and structural support generally,” explains Weingart, “so the materials alone ended-up costing 30% less than estimates I got for a rectangular cellar. The only problem that didn’t occur to me is it’s so loud in here,” he adds with a reverberating laugh, “so I think I’ll have to arrange some sort of sound-absorption.” (For background on this estate and its recent evolution, including downsizing, consult the introductions to my account of its 2014s and 2015s. Information on the vineyards whose cadaster names Weingart registered in 2014 can be found in my notes on his wines from that vintage.)

From Rheingau and Mittelrhein Riesling 2016: Stress Test (Jul 2018) by David Schildknecht

Reviews

Wines

Sort by default

2016 Riesling Bopparder Hamm Ohlenberg Kabinett trocken

Color: White

2016 Riesling Bopparder Hamm Ohlenberg Kabinett trocken

2016 Riesling Spayer In der Zech Kabinett trocken

2016 Riesling Bopparder Hamm Ohlenberg Spätlese trocken

2016 Riesling Bopparder Hamm Engelstein Am Weissen Wacke Spätlese trocken

2016 Riesling feinherb

2016 Riesling feinherb *

2016 Riesling Bopparder Hamm Engelstein Am Weissen Wacke Spätlese Anarchie

2016 Riesling

2016 Riesling Bopparder Hamm Engelstein Kabinett

2015 Spätburgunder Spayer In der Zech Spätlese trocken

Content

Engage

Vinous

Social