Review: Nik Weis, St. Urbans-Hof Riesling from Old Vines

A few weeks back, I did a review of a dry riesling from Nik Weis. Today I’m exploring another Nik Weis riesling from St. Urbans-Hof winery in Mosel, this one is off-dry.

Now before your run off saying you don’t like sweet riesling, cool your jets and listen to me for a minute. This is not a sweet riesling, it’s off-dry, meaning it has a touch more residual sugar than a dry riesling and is a touch sweeter but I wouldn’t call it sweet. It’s all about balance. With that hint of sweetness, the wine needs to have enough acidity to be balanced. When you have a wine with that balance, it’s a beautiful thing. And it makes for some outstanding food pairings such as with spicy Thai food or one of my favorites, pulled pork tacos with a spicy vinegar sauce.

The Germans sometimes call a wine like this a “halbtrocken,” which translates to “half dry.” It’s a term that’s not used as much as it used to be, but I wish it was used more.

The Nik Weis, St. Urbans-Hof Riesling from Old Vines has that magical balance.

It’s described as coming from “old vines,” which in Germany means a minimum of 25 years old. The vines at St. Urbans-Hof that produced the grapes for this riesling range from 30-70 years of age.

This is the kind of wine some of my friends who are into “natural wines” would dig. Although it’s not marketed as a natural wine, the vineyards are organically farmed, the grapes are harvested by hand, then they are gently crushed and the grapes are left in the press for up to three hours to allow the juice to extract deliciousness from the skins, the juice is then allowed to settle overnight before being racked. The fermentation begins spontaneously from the natural yeasts in the winery.

The nose of this riesling is lovely, offering aromas of tangerine, orange blossom, lemon and wet stones. It’s also quite nice on the palate. There’s a slight touch of sweetness, but not too much. It’s a well balanced sweetness. The flavors are delicious and somewhat tropical with aspects of tangerine, mango, yellow delicious apple and honeysuckle. The mouthfeel is nice with a touch of creaminess and a touch of tingliness. The finish is ridiculously long with lingering tropical flavor as well as a distinct mineral note.

Although this wine is fabulous to drink now, I’d love to see what this wine tastes like with another 5 years or so in the cellar.

Wine: Nik Weis, St. Urbans-Hof Riesling from Old Vines
Varieties: Riesling
Vintage: 2018
Alcohol: 11%
Rating: 93
Average price: $18.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.