The winery is located in the municipality of Kiedrich in the German wine-growing region of Rheingau and was founded in 1875 by Dr Robert Weil (1843-1923). There are family roots in the famous Bernkastel winegrowing dynasty of Prüm. The estate was considerably expanded through the purchase of the two wine estates Nilkens and Buschmann, the villa of the aristocratic English patron of the arts Sir John Sutton (1820-1873) and vineyards owned by Count von Fürstenberg. From 1920 to 1959, his son Wilhelm Weil (1888-1971) ran the estate. His son Robert Weil (1931-1989) then took over the management, followed by Wilhelm Weil (*1963) in 1987 as the fourth generation.
The estate is an impressive example of the harmonious combination of historical architecture and contemporary wine architecture. The central part of the manor house was built in the English Tudor style, while the neo-Gothic extensions from 1875 and 1906 characterise its striking appearance. Under the management of Wilhelm Weil, the historic buildings were carefully restored and complemented by modern, largely underground production areas. Today, the winery comprises over 1,000 square metres of presentation space and more than 6,000 square metres of production space, which enables around 700,000 bottles of Riesling to be produced each year. A wine archive, completed in 2023 and dug into the ground, continues the maxim that every generation should leave its mark.
Wine archive & Zeppelin wine
The picture on the left shows the entrance to the wine archive, the picture on the right shows the winery's vinotheque. A Riesling from the 1893 vintage from the Gräfenberg vineyard made the winery famous far and wide. The Auslese from the Kiedricher Berg was supplied to many imperial and royal houses in Europe at the time. 800 bottles of this wine were purchased by the Vienna Court Economic Office for the Habsburg imperial court in 1900 for a bottle price of 16 gold marks. The top wines of the great vintages dating back to that legendary Auslese are stored in the wine archive of the house. The 1920 vintage of the Kiedricher Gräfenberg Trockenbeerenauslese is known as Zeppelin wine because it was on board the airship "Graf Zeppelin LZ 127" during the round-the-world flight in 1929.
Takeover by Suntory
The Japanese drinks group Suntory acquired a majority stake in the winery in 1988. Large sums were invested in expanding the vineyards and modernising the cellar facilities. However, the Weil family continues to run the business. Clemens Schmitt and Philipp Bicking are responsible for vineyard management, while Christian Engel and Fabian Kretschmer are responsible for the cellar operations.
Vineyards
The vineyards cover 90 hectares of vines in the VDP-classified Kiedrich single vineyard sites Gräfenberg, Klosterberg and (solely owned) Turmberg and others. It is cultivated to 100% Riesling. Since the 2012 vintage, the vineyards have been cultivated according to the rules of organic viticulture certified since the 2024 vintage.
The vineyards are cultivated using cover crop, exclusively organic fertilisation, pest control with environmentally friendly, biodegradable agents and no herbicides. Other quality factors include limiting yields through restrictive pruning, double thinning, early negative selection and extremely selective harvesting, usually not before the beginning of November. The time-consuming harvest often takes eight to ten weeks with several picking processes. When the noble rot grapes are harvested, they are sorted according to three degrees of rot.
Glass.cabinet tasting room
The Glas.Cabinet room is a modern and elegant tasting room that impresses with its transparent architecture. The glass walls offer an impressive view of the Gräfenberg and the historic surroundings.
Vinification
In the cellar, the grapes are selected again berry by berry. The musts are pre-clarified by natural sedimentation. The six to twelve-week fermentation is temperature-controlled in stainless steel tanks and in traditional Rheingau barrels. During reductive ageing, the longest possible contact with the fine lees is utilised. The wines are marketed according to the VDP classification model as estate wines (Robert Weil), local wines (Kiedricher Flächen), Erste Lagen (Klosterberg and Turmberg) and from the Grosse Lage as Grosse Gewächse (Gräfenberg). Traditionally, the noble sweet wines from Auslese to Trockenbeerenauslese are among the top products of the house. They are labelled with a gold capsule and sold at auctions for top prices. The winery is a member of the VDP.
