The 2015 vintage is the product of yet another year of weather extremes. Despite an intense dry spell throughout the summer, the Rheingau and her vineyards remained brilliantly green. The Kiedrich hillsides in particular benefited from runoff water from the surrounding forest, one of the characteristics that makes them truly special. A notably great vintage, with the potential to be the vintage of the century - only time will tell for sure! Like the vintage before it, 2015 began with a mild winter. Nonetheless, there were a few notably frosty days with recorded temperatures of -5 and -10 °C (14-23 °F).
Mother Nature first emerged in her spring finery around mid-April with a few summery days, leading to budbreak on April 22, only marginally earlier than the norm.
Typical May and June weather helped maintain that ahead-of-schedule pace right up through flowering, which was observed in our vineyards 8 days ahead of the historical average. The long dry spell that followed had a strong impact on growth, although on the whole the Rheingau remained green throughout the hot and extremely dry summer.
The Kiedrich hillside slopes once again showed just how remarkable they are. In wet years, the sparse, stony soils of our hillside vineyards drain away excess moisture so that our vines never get their feet wet. In dry years, the water runoff the surrounding forest keeps the vines sufficiently hydrated.
Ripening began in earnest around mid-August, approx. 5 days ahead of the long-standing average.
August, September and October were picture-perfect for ripening, with uninterrupted dry, sunny weather dotted with brief (and necessary) showers.
In early October, the first of our Riesling vineyards were ready for harvest. The grapes tasted magnificent and were the picture of health, leading to plenty of relieved smiles all around. Our Gutsriesling alone easily topped 80 °Oe, while the Ortsriesling weighed in at admirable 90 °Oe and the Erste and Grosse Lage wines measured average must weights of 90 and above. And all of this with sensational, ripe acidity and stunning extract values - we couldn't wish for anything better!
The crowning glory are the Spätlese and noble sweet selections which top out at over 200 °Oe.
The 2015 vintage is thus the 27th consecutive year at Weingut Robert Weil to see a successful harvest of botrytis-laced fruit for Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese wines.
While the overall yield totaled only slightly below the historical average, the tremendous health of the berries well into late October strongly limited the amount of fruit appropriate for noble sweet wines.