Sankt Urban Hof Winery
A Delicate Balance of Tradition and Innovation
I first met Nik Weiss at the Grand European Tasting held annually in
New York City last March of the year 2000. The French, Italian and
Spanish areas swarming with people I had chosen to find refuge in the
quieter German section of the tasting. Admittedly, at the time, I knew
nothing about German wine, upon getting to Nik's table I gave him the
dubious challenge of teaching me all he could about German wine in 15
minutes. Where other's would have balked at the challenge, he jumped in
and those highly educational fifteen minutes began my love affair with
German wine. I tell people this story about Nik whenever I talk about
his wines as I feel it is truly reflective of Sankt Urbans Hofs quality
and dedication to German wines.
Today he is the General Manager of an estate that encompasses 87
acres and sells wines all over the world, the fruits of his labor will
soon be available in the US. Nik is a talented winemaker, the quality of
his wine speaks for itself and people are listening. Recently, the VDP
welcomed Sankt Urbans-Hof into its prestigious association of German
Wine Estates and the wines continue to gather awards and favorable press
everywhere. This is no easy feat for a winery coming from a town long
synonymous with bulk wine. Having been there myself on two occasions and
tasted wine from various area producers I am happy to say this is a bad
myth and it will eventually be dispelled as Sankt Urban Hof's and other
area producers wines become better known.
None the less it will be a continuing challenge among many other's
that Nik, who just turned 29 this fall, will have to tackle. One of the
biggest hurdles he faces is the general perception that German wine is
not user friendly or versatile, that the quality can be mediocre and the
reality that many people just don't drink wines from Germany. Ask him
why this is so and prepare yourself for a sermon and passionate
discourse on why you should drink German wines: In a very detailed and
convincing way he will tell you and sum up with, " they are the
finest wines in the world!"
Three generations prior the winery was founded by his grandfather,
Nicolas Weis in 1947. Mr. Weis loved wine and wanted to make it even
though he was a shoemaker by trade. He none the less took his new
venture extremely seriously founding in 1947 the first private grapevine
nursery in Germany after the war. Through his efforts, hard work and
dedication at the winery and nursery he gained the prestigious title of
"Oekonomierat" or Chancellor of Agriculture in 1969. After he
was followed by his son, Hermann who grew the estate's holdings and even
started an innovative business exporting in 1976 Riesling root stocks of
the Weis clone (21b) to Canada. Unfortunately after many problems with
local authorities regarding quarantine laws and separate licensing
concerns, Hermann decided to sell in 1992 the Canadian portion of his
business. His daughter Anna, who had come over from Germany to supervise
Sales for her father's company stayed behind, marrying Tom Pennachetti a
partner of the highly acclaimed Cave Springs winery located in Ontario's
Niagara region.
Nik, the son of Hermann came on board officially after completing his
degree in viticulture and enology at Geisenheim Germany, one of the best
wine education institutions in the world. The youngest Weis has always
been involved and fascinated with the workings of the winery. "I
knew from very early on, that I wanted to be a wine maker - that I
should be a wine maker". From the conviction in his voice, there's
no doubt about it.
