2016 Riesling Kabinett

Wilhelm Weil reports a near-normal volume of vintage 2016 Riesling and professes delight with the quality, even though, due to relative absence of botrytis, there was very little volume at the nobly sweet end of the spectrum for which this estate has become especially celebrated. “Truly,” reports Wilhelm Weil, “I have seldom if ever seen fruit of such uniformly picture-perfect ripeness with not a single rotten berry as we had in 2016.” Nonetheless, by dint of rigorous selection, Weil managed to perpetuate a 28 year streak of bottling Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese – magnificent ones at that. Picking for generic bottlings began already in early October so as to insure material of modest must weight – here ranging from 83-89 Oechsle – since Weil reports that by then, thanks to the warm, sunny September weather, his grapes already tasted terrific. But predictably given the usual practices of this estate – not to mention the clear, cool weather that prevailed through the first week in November – the team here took their time picking, finishing with the dry Rieslings by the end of October. For a grower who has been especially vocal about the risk that climate change will bring with it not just earlier but narrower harvest windows, 2016 understandably proved a relief. Acidity in the finished wines tends to be close to levels recorded in 2015, but dominantly tartaric. (For much detail on this estate’s history, vineyards and present practices, consult the introductions to my reports on its 2015s and 2014s.)