Hot days, cool nights, steep slopes, unyielding slate, sunshine almost like the equator. Riesling specialist Nik Weis calls the Moselle region the "valley of extremes". Here, "it is crucial to have an eye for detail and to recognise the subtle differences in the big picture."
For centuries, the family practised viticulture, among other things, until Nik's grandfather decided in 1947 to concentrate fully on the vines. in 1997, Nik Weis took over the St. Urbans-Hof in Leiwen on the Moselle and consistently focussed on producing the highest quality. The search for extra-steep and difficult-to-grow sites as well as the focus on traditional methods to achieve an authentic terroir expression will have seemed "exotic" to many winegrowers at the time.
Today, the winery has 45 hectares of vineyards stretching around 60 kilometres along the Moselle and Saar rivers - including outstanding single vineyard sites, five of which are classified as Große Lage. Typical for Weis is the planting of vines of very different ages. This and the variance in genetics are more important for the individuality of the wines than soil and climate. This is another reason why Nik Weis runs one of Germany's oldest vine nurseries alongside the winery, which supplies vines to winegrowers all over the world.
Back to the wine. Elaborate single-vineyard training, sustainable soil cultivation, a lot of manual labour and long maturation periods are a matter of course here, as is the avoidance of industrial yeasts, and this has always been the case. Weis' credo is: „Balance, balance, balance.“ And so his Rieslings combine natural residual sweetness, invigorating acidity, elegant minerality and ripe fruit flavours in equal measure.
© Photos: Peter Kunz, David Weimann, Manfred Klimek
