2018 Riesling Kiedricher Turmberg Spätlese

Wilhelm Weil waxed predictably enthusiastic about 2018, believing that ideal September weather sealed its potential. Besides late winter precipitation that fell all across Riesling Germany, the top Kiedrich sites benefit from underlying springs, so that drought stress even for younger vines was minimized. And Weil is among those who opine that to the extent summer drought slowed down vine metabolism, that was probably to the good in terms of both restraining eventual must weights and retaining acidity. Apropos of acidity, he also verified that the 2018s benefited from significant succinic acid that accumulates as a byproduct of fermentation, a phenomenon that, as luck would have it, is associated with especially warm and dry growing seasons. Picking chez Weil began record early, just as at most other German Riesling estates, though, interestingly, the previous record was set not in 2017, 2011 or 2003 but rather in 1947. And here, “record early” meant mid-September. But the elevation and wind exposure of this estate’s sites nearly always permit a bit more hang time than in many other Rheingau locations. The main harvest was completed in a month. (For considerable detail on this estate’s history, vineyards and present practices, see the introductions to my reports on its 2014–2017s.)