Roving Sommelier is passionate about premium quality regional wines. I was introduced to Nik Weis and the wines of St Urbans-Hof around twenty years ago (in 2000) in London by Iris Ellmann of The Wine Barn. At the time, she was reaching out to elite sommeliers and wine buyers in the UK and to introduce her amazing German wine producers to get them on the lists of many top fine-dining restaurants.

Named after St Urban, the patron saint of winemakers, Weingut St Urbans-Hof is one of the largest, privately held estates in the Mosel. It was founded in 1947 by Nicolaus Weis and since 1997, has been run by his grandson Nik Weis. Nik has developed a distinct personal style in his winemaking, favouring drastically reduced yields, indigenous fermentation and minimal intervention in the winery. Nik owns parcels in some of the greatest vineyards in the Mosel and Saar, including Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) Leiwener Laurentiuslay and Piesporter Goldtröpfchen.

Nik’s philosophy is to produce wines that fully reflect the character of the vineyard in which they are grown. He feels producers of great sites have a responsibility to bring out the authentic character of both their site and region. These are very much terroir-driven wines with their own personal character and expression. St Urbans-Hof is a member of the VDP.

The 2019 “Urban” by Nik Weiss is an entry level off-dry Riesling targeted towards German Riesling lovers who enjoy their wines to be fun, unstuffy and extremely drinkable. It’s a wine for now and packed with juicy, citrussy fruit with a lovely moreish mouth-watering acidity and at 10% alcohol, too! Great as an aperitif or an ‘anytime of the day wine’. Being off-dry in style, it also pairs nicely with spicy foods.

Best enjoyed chilled and in a convivial atmosphere.