Riesling by Graf von Weyher
Olympic champions win gold medals, football teams win huge trophies and winemakers receive… certificates. Something's wrong! It would be a Riesling cup made of pure gold, we can already see it in front of us: half a meter high, decorated with vine tendrils and delicate bunches of grapes, ice-cold, filled with a wonderful Graf Granit single-vineyard Riesling ... Oh yes.
Doesn't matter. Nevertheless, we are extremely proud of our paper certificates, which we can at least nail to the wall to save space. There are now so many that wall space is becoming rare here in the winery. It's a good thing that the Internet offers endless space. :-)
Our virtual Hall of Fame is a kind of substitute for the heroes' podium and trophy showcase. Because the Riesling awards that we have received in recent years are impressive (even if we say so ourselves). To be completely honest: We didn't expect that when we changed our focus a good 10 years ago!
But why are our premium Riesling wines so popular? What distinguishes them from other Rieslings and why do they win so many awards everywhere?
Reason 1: Because they taste great.
Sure, of course!
What we are particularly pleased about is that our wines have performed extremely well in a wide variety of competitions. Sometimes they were experts (sommeliers), sometimes wine connoisseurs (the Klaus next door), sometimes shrewd journalists, sometimes top chefs ... but it was always blind tasting. In short: the jury members didn't know who they were honoring. And that is what it is about.
That's actually enough. end of discussion.
Or not? Because WHY does Graf von Weyher's Riesling taste so good? What is different about us at the Graf von Weyher winery? Do we have a secret ingredient? A real Palatinate spell? A brewing ritual that surpasses all other brewing rituals in the world? (Candlelight dance backwards around the barrels on the third midnight after emplacement?)
It's not that esoteric. But not explained in one sentence. That’s why we let you take a look behind the scenes in this blog entry:
Reason 2: Riesling is our specialty.
25% of our acreage is planted with Riesling. Riesling was the first vine that our ancestors hopefully planted in 1788. You just get to know each other when you live side by side for so long. And as in a good and long-lasting marriage, as a wise partner you know what you have to do so that the other person doesn't get angry. :-)
Reason 3: Our vineyards stand on four completely different rocks.
That's rare. And delicious. Because we harvest separately according to rock and location. This creates incredibly diverse taste nuances.
That was a real act of faith, because with this decision we turned a premium Riesling into four. At the same time, we massively reduced the yield and just got half of it out of the vineyard.
The decision to focus on quality instead of quantity took courage. Our first two terroir wines were our granite and slate sites, and a few years later lime marl and red sandstone followed. (By the way, here in Weyher there is the largest contiguous granite area in Germany, and overall you only get very few other granite vineyard Rieslings!)
We find it fascinating how sensitively and flexibly the grapes react. It's like letting nature speak. By the way, professionals can determine the terroir of a wine purely sensory in a blind tasting. (A sip, a moment of enjoyment and: »Aha, this darling here grew on slate!«)
There is hardly a winemaker who can offer four different terroir wines with Riesling on a comparatively small area. We're a little proud of that, we'll admit that.
Reason 4: The cellar art
There are years of rain and bad moods when we have to do a lot in the basement. And there are years when the wine comes out of the press so happy that we just have to watch it develop with a smile. The trick is to intervene at the right moment and make precise adjustments. We sometimes cultivate our own yeasts - that's the icing on the cake.
Reason 5: They increase in value
Such a wine is not just a pleasure. Sometimes it is also an investment. Even as youngsters, our single vineyard wines are very round in taste. At the same time, they mature wonderfully and develop a wonderful depth. You can find the older vintages in our treasury: this is where our cellar gold from a wide range of vintages and locations is stored.
And now at a glance:
These are the awards our Riesling has won over the past decade:
- Young Southern Palatinate competition (one of the first of its kind) - three first places in the 'Riesling' category and two overall winners
- Competition Generation Palatinate - Multiple TOP 20
- International competition "Best of Riesling" - regularly top 10% - 2012 first place with Riesling Kabinett
- Lagencup Weiß Berlin – new wine competition – Top 10%
- AWC Vienna - 9x gold and 12x silver
- Federal wine award of the DLG - 27x gold price, 21x silver price, 5x bronze price
- Mundus Vini - 2x gold and 5x silver
- Chamber of Agriculture Rhineland-Palatinate - 124x gold, 99x silver, 12x bronze
- 10x state awards
- 2x Grand State Awards
- 1x national award in bronze
- German Wine Institute and DLG Germany's best young winegrowers - 2nd place Peter Graf
The critical voice from the off
Sometimes people tell us, "Are you serious? You celebrate Riesling, that sour stuff, when there are such wonderful French and Italian wines?”
Yes. We celebrate the Riesling. It has a special acidity that makes it so incredibly versatile and therefore unique. Whether for a picnic or for the highlights in life - we have a bottle of Riesling for every occasion.
And anyway! Did you know that German Riesling was better known and more popular than French wine before the First World War? He enjoyed the highest international reputation. But then the German rulers snapped and all of a sudden it was no longer politically correct to consume German products. The people of the Palatinate sat on their weeps and cried - with good reason. In times of need, they undersold the Riesling, relying on quantity and not on quality ... and so it got the reputation of being sour and cheap. But those times are over now! (The Russians now have the problem.)
We invite you to taste all our Riesling variants (at the winery, register now!). And then we want to know which one is your favorite! Because mad – oh, no, he's not mad!
You have no idea what we're talking about here? Taste our vineyards with the Riesling vineyard package!
Your Riesling-loving counts
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