Riesling Part 1 - Origin
Today we would like to introduce you to our traditional wine, our roots, our »Drama Queen«.
That's right, we're talking about Riesling!
Riesling claims around 59,805 hectares of vineyards worldwide. Of this, a good 24,812 hectares (approx. 40%) are cultivated in Germany, and here in turn is the largest area in the Palatinate with around 6,000 hectares - and the trend is rising. Because the demand for German Riesling is increasing.
But why do we call this wine the "Drama Queen" ? The Riesling vine has an extremely sensitive reaction to its surroundings - and by that we don't just mean the location but actually the rock on which the vineyard rests! Because even if all other parameters (grape variety, expansion, alcohol content, etc.) are identical, the wines taste 'completely' different, depending on the soil or rock on which they were allowed to grow.
At the Graf von Weyher winery, Riesling accounts for a whopping 25% of the area under cultivation. Particularly unusual (and we're a little proud of that): we have four (!) different types of rock on our relatively small cultivation area: slate, red sandstone, limestone marl and granite . So we can also grow four different terroir wines or site wines.
We have explained the concept of terroir wines in detail (and entertainingly!) in a brochure . It can be found online here, so that you can casually join the conversation with the connoisseurs in the future.
Our »Drama Queen« ensures that the four completely different types of rock create four completely different tastes. Don't you think so?
Try it! We have put together a layer comparison package for you:
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4 fine bottles of terroir Riesling from the 2021 vintage (one of each rock)
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1 bottle of 2021 Riesling Kabinett
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1 bottle of 2020 dry Riesling sparkling wine
But the drama queen can do even more! Because the weather of the season also has a huge impact on the taste. In addition, Riesling is excellent at aging; even over decades, the extract and the fruity acidity develop positively and reinforce the character of the terroir.
So if you also want to try the Riesling in a year-on-year comparison, you can do so with our second monthly package, the “ Historical Sites Package ” - especially for all Riesling fans! It contains:
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All 4 vineyard Rieslings from 2019
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All 4 vineyard Rieslings from 2020
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all 4 vineyard Rieslings from 2021
Unlike the Mediterranean wines, the Riesling cultivated in Germany does not like the blazing heat. So make sure you get these offers, because the cultivation of Riesling is becoming a little more difficult every year due to climate change. It will be exciting again this year.
Photo: Schiefer Riesling, Burrweiler Altenforst, Weingut Graf von Weyher
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