Within Kiedrichs Grfenberg Grand Cru lies a small 0.5-hectare parcel once known as the Grfenberg-Lay. Sitting in one of the steepest portions of the vineyard, the Lay is located at the transition between Grfenberg and Turmberg and is known for having the highest concentration of phyllite slate on the hill. The vines here are now between 40 and 60 years old.

This site was originally purchased by Dr Robert Weil in the 19th century, using the dowry from his marriage to Emilie von Vacano (a descendant of the Vacano family in Lombardy). The wine from this parcel, called Monte Vacano (the Hill of Vacano), was always produced and bottled alone. It was used only for celebratory occasions and never released for sale. Following Weil’s death in 1921, the tradition of Monte Vacano fell dormant, and the fruit was incorporated into a regular Grfenberg bottling.

Compared to the Grfenberg GG, Monte Vacano trades power and richness for exceptional purity, elegance and detail. Resurrecting the old custom, 2021 marks the fourth Riesling in a century solely from this special lieu-dit. It was harvested in October, and the grapes were whole bunch-pressed into two ancient refurbished Stckfsser (1,200-litre casks), where the wine fermented spontaneously and spent almost two years on lees before bottling.

“Bottled in July 2023 after 21 months on the first lees (one year after the Grfenberg), the 2021 Monte Vacano, from a particular plot of the Grfenberg, is an intensely yellow Riesling that opens with a pure, intense, even rich, finely saline and mineral nose with citrus notes. Round and elegant on the palate, this is a full-bodied, rich, intense, textural, enormously long, complex and saline, stimulatingly precise and tannic Monte Vacano with the power and richness of the Grfenberg paired with the precision and salinity of the Castellum Montis. It is more hedonistic, although from a cooler year, but very, very long, saline and savory. Definitely a wine made for generations.” 97 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate