St Urbans Hof
Summary
St. Urbans-Hof is a third-generation family estate in Germany's Mosel region, managing 40 hectares across the Mosel and Saar valleys, with a focus on Riesling grown in steep, slate-rich vineyards including several VDP.Grosse Lage sites. Their winemaking balances tradition with quality through sustainable viticulture, selective hand harvesting, and fermentation in both oak fuders and stainless steel, with some production from ungrafted vines up to 80 years old.
Heritage & Leadership
St. Urbans-Hof was established in 1947 by Nicolaus Weis in the village of Leiwen in Germany's Mosel region. The estate takes its name from St. Urban, the patron saint of winegrowers, and "Hof," the German word for estate. Following Nicolaus, his son Hermann Weis expanded the winery's holdings and reputation throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Since 1997, the third generation, Nik Weis, has led the estate as proprietor and winemaker. Under his direction, St. Urbans-Hof joined the prestigious VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter) in 2000, Germany's association of top wine estates. The winery maintains its family-owned structure while operating as one of the larger privately-held estates in the Mosel region.
Vineyards & Wines
St. Urbans-Hof manages 40 hectares of vineyards spread across both the Mosel and Saar valleys. Their holdings include parcels in several classified VDP.Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) sites, including Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Leiwener Laurentiuslay, and Ockfener Bockstein. The estate's vineyards feature the region's characteristic blue Devonian slate soils, with some parcels containing red slate and quartzite. Vineyard elevations range from 150 to 280 meters above sea level, with slopes reaching up to 60% gradient in the steepest sections. The estate is planted predominantly to Riesling (90%), with small plantings of Pinot Blanc and other traditional varieties. Many vineyard parcels contain ungrafted vines, with some plantings dating back 80 years. The portfolio is structured according to the VDP classification system, with wines ranging from estate-level offerings to single-vineyard Grosse Gewächse (dry Grand Crus) and traditional Prädikat wines (Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese).
Philosophy & Practice
St. Urbans-Hof adheres to sustainable viticulture practices, focusing on minimal intervention in both vineyard and cellar. The estate employs selective hand harvesting, with multiple passes through the vineyards to ensure optimal ripeness for each quality level. In the winery, fermentation occurs primarily in traditional large oak fuders (1,000-liter casks) and stainless steel tanks, using ambient yeasts whenever possible. The estate maintains a temperature-controlled cellar carved into the hillside, providing ideal conditions for the slow fermentation that characterizes traditional Mosel winemaking. For their top-tier wines, extended lees contact is employed to build complexity and texture. The estate's approach balances respect for traditional methods with modern quality standards, focusing on expressing the distinctive terroir of each vineyard site through minimal technological intervention. St. Urbans-Hof bottles its wines according to the lunar calendar, following the biodynamic principle that wine quality is influenced by the moon's phases.