WineStyles Wine and Cheese Pairing: Sweet wines from our ‘Nectar’ section pair well with an herbal cheese. Learn more about our wine and cheese pairings here.

THE VINEYARD:

© Photo by: Jon Wyand

Nik Weis is one of the few winemakers in his region to make wine from the Mosel and the Saar Valley. Half of his 111 acre property is located in the Saar Valley, a sub-appellation, where the microclimate is even cooler than in the Mosel area. This means that the difference between warm days and cool nights is more extreme and causes even better conditions for the development of many flavors in the skins of the berries. In comparison to the Mosel Valley, with its rather soft and blue slate soils, the slate in the Saar Valley is either red or grey, causing a distinctive smoky and almost salty minerality.

Old Vine © Photo by Jony Wyand

Another particularity of Nik Weis is the wide spectrum of the age of his vines that goes up to 130 years. Having many old vineyard parcels is another key for making authentic and long-lasting wines since old vines root much deeper into the ground and gather more nutrients and minerals than young vines do; they also have a better water uptake which prevents them from drought and water shortage in warm summers. In addition to that, the grape clusters also change within the years, and for that, old vines produce smaller berries with thicker skins. This results naturally into lower crop yields with a higher aromatic concentration and complexity.

PRODUCTION:
The Riesling Estate Bottled from Old Vines unites all particularities of Nik Weis. It is grown on different kinds of slate, comes from the old vineyards in the Saar valley, and was fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks in order to keep the fine and elegant body.

Nik Weis © Credit Peter Kunz

Nik Weis – St. Urbans-Hof
Urban Riesling
Mosel, Germany

WineStyles Wine and Cheese Pairing: Sweet wines from our ‘Nectar’ section pair well with an aged cheese. Learn more about our wine and cheese pairings here.

Background:

Nik Weis © Photo Credits to David Weimann

Inspired by the ‘urban lifestyle’ of many cities like New York, London, or Paris, winemaker and globetrotter, Nik Weis wanted to create a wine whose individual character would stand out against the average mass of wines – even in famous cities with genuine character and flair. But how could one combine an urban lifestyle with a rather rural region like the Mosel valley? Luckily, Mosel Riesling is one of the world’s most famous wines and has been consumed in the world’s best restaurants and hotels for more than a century. Nik soon knew that his wine would bring the Mosel ‘zest for life’ to the world’s biggest cities back again.

Today, Urban Riesling has become a well-known and regularly-awarded wine that never forgot about its roots: The soil on which the vines grow consists of blue, highly decomposed slate rocks that give the wines their great minerality- a somewhat salty finish. The temperatures vary from warm during the day to cold at night; this lets the grapes keep their elegant and fruity acidity and makes them produce a wide range of beautiful flavors. The vinification takes place in a minimalistic way in order to make the wines as authentic as possible.

ABOUT NIK WEIS – ST. URBANS-HOF:
Nikolaus (Nik) Weis is the third generation of his family to tend the vines since his Grandfather, Nicolaus Weis founded St. Urbans-Hof Estate in 1947. Nicolaus was awarded the prestigious title “Oekonomierat” (Chancellor of Agriculture) in 1969 for his dedication to the wine culture of the country; his name and title have since become a suffix to the estate’s name. Today, Nik oversees the estate’s 111 acres in the Mosel and Saar Valleys. Since 2000, the Riesling winery has been a member of Germany’s renowned VDP (Association of German Quality Wine Estates). Learn more about their story here.

Mosel between Leiwen and Trittenheim – © Photo by David Weimann