Country: | Germany |
Region: | Mosel |
Winery: | Dr. Loosen |
Grape Type: | Riesling |
Organic: | Yes |
Vintage: | 2014 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Alte Reben Riesling Grosses Gewachs is made from 100 percent Riesling.
This is one of the greatest vineyards in the Middle Mosel. This precipitously steep, rocky vineyard consistently yields some of the most elegant and sophisticated white wines in the world. Citrus and white peach flavors predominate when the wines are young, turning to a pure expression of the mineral soil as they age.
A heavenly, full-bodied dry Riesling with forceful minerality from 100-year-old vines grown in the blue slate soil of Graach.
Graach is a small village in the Mosel valley. It’s steep slate slopes produce wines that combine elegance with rustic strength. Grosses Gewächs (GG) is the designation for an estate’s best dry wine from a Grosse Lage (grand cru) vineyard. This limited-production wine was fermented with indigenous yeasts and kept in the barrel, on the full lees, for a year before bottling. The extended maturation time allows the wine to develop greater texture and a deeper natural harmony. This is a fully ripe wine, with vibrant aromatics and a pronounced acidity that gives it a brilliant structural precision.
Review:
Convincing proof that 2020 is an excellent vintage for dry GG on the Mosel! Cool and stony with delicate white-peach and white-currant aromas. Really takes off at the intensely slatey and racy finish.
-James Suckling 95-96 Points
Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Grafenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs is made from 100 percent Riesling.
The Robert Weil Kiedrich Grafenberg GG is always at the head of its class. Deep, brooding, powerful aromas of sea salt, ripe lime, lemon curd and jasmine. Bass notes of moist earth. Explosive flavors of pineapple, honey, peach, apple and spearmint. So much fruit, but bone dry. Aristocratic finish.
A powerful, almost monolithic Riesling, that can stand up to buttered lobster, Eastern scallops, a roast garlic chicken, or just an array of ripe cheeses.
Review:
“This very youthful GG needs some aeration to open up, but with every swirl of the glass more wild herbs, red-fleshed vineyard peaches and exotic floral nuances emerge. Very concentrated, yet cool and focused, with a very precise interplay of tangerine fruit, wet-stone minerality and a hint of oak that echoes down the valleys.”
Founded in 1875, Weingut Robert Weil is considered to be one of the Rheingau’s younger wine estates. It is located in the heart of Kiedrich, a village first documented in the year 950. Kiedrich Turmberg and Kiedrich Gräfenberg, the estate’s top vineyards, are among the finest sites in the Rheingau.
-James Suckling 98 Points
Dr. Loosen Riesling Eiswein is made from 100 percent Riesling.
This vibrant, racy dessert wine conjures flavors of densely packed pear, apple and guava, with an intense, nervy edge in the aroma. It is luscious, silky and juicy on the palate, with bright acidity giving it a crisp, dynamic finish.
Review:
This is extremely rich, yet the acidity keeps it on its toes. The palate is rich, sporting rhubarb and apricot flavors that are laced by hints of earth, coriander seed and honeyed oolong tea. It has an appealing sweet tart character that takes over and is matched by super suave texture. Shows incredible persistence through the long finish. Drink now through 2050.
-Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
Dr. Loosen Riesling Eiswein is made from 100 percent Riesling.
This vibrant, racy dessert wine conjures flavors of densely packed pear, apple and guava, with an intense, nervy edge in the aroma. It is luscious, silky and juicy on the palate, with bright acidity giving it a crisp, dynamic finish.
Review:
Dr. Loosen Riesling Eiswein is made from 100 percent Riesling.
This vibrant, racy dessert wine conjures flavors of densely packed pear, apple and guava, with an intense, nervy edge in the aroma. It is luscious, silky and juicy on the palate, with bright acidity giving it a crisp, dynamic finish.
Dr. Loosen Erdener Pralat Alte Reben Riesling Grosses Gewachs is made from 100 percent Riesling.
Erni Loosen has quickly established himself as one the premier GG producers in the Mosel Valley. This Erdener Pralat GG Reserve is sourced from a 90-year-old parcel, is meticulously hand-picked, fermented bone dry from immaculate, botrytis-free fruit. It is fermented and aged in neutral oak, and garners it reserve status by being aged for 24 months on the lees, then spends another two years in bottle before release. Erdener Pralat is Loosen’s finest vineyard and this wine has it all: Majestic aromas and flavors of orange marmalade, dried apricot, kiwi, pink grapefruit, beeswax and wet stone. Extraordinary creamy texture from the extended lees aging leads to a medium-bodied elixir with a long, persistent finish.
This is serious juice and can stand up to highly seasoned chicken, pork and seafood dishes.
Reviews:
The 2014 Erdener Prälat Riesling GG Réserve Alte Reben is clear, refined and aromatic on the precise, delicate and highly finessed nose that indicates ripe and elegant Riesling fruit with very fine red slate aromas. Full-bodied yet filigreed, crystalline and salty on the palate, this is a powerful, intense and rich yet refined and stimulatingly salty Prälat based on entirely healthy grapes. The finish is very long, intense and powerful yet remains crystalline and stimulating and still asks us to be patient: The best is yet to come. Tasted at the domain in September 2020.
-Wine Advocate 96 Points
A masterpiece for this difficult vintage. Stunning aromas of tree fruits. Very concentrated, creamy and polished but not a jot too heavy. This wine impresses all the way through the very long and silky finish.
-James Suckling 96 Points
Dynamic Rieslings from the Slate Slopes of the Mosel
The Dr. Loosen estate has been in the same family for over 200 years. When Ernst Loosen assumed ownership in 1988, he realized that with ungrafted vines averaging 60 years old in some of Germany’s best-rated vineyards, he had the raw materials to create stunningly intense, world-class wines. To achieve this, Ernst dramatically restricts crop size, prohibits chemical fertilization, insists on very strict fruit selection, and employs gentle cellar practices that allow the wine to develop its full potential with a minimum of handling.
Classified quality
All of Dr. Loosen’s six major vineyards were designated as “Erste Lage” — equivalent to grand cru — in the 1868 Prussian classification of Mosel vineyards. Only wines from these top-rated sites are bottled with a single-vineyard designation. All others are labeled simply as estate wines.
The Elements of Quality at Dr. Loosen
The regional climate
The Mosel’s steep, south-facing slopes create the perfect climate for Riesling, giving the vines ideal exposure to the low-lying, northern sun. Generally cool conditions allow the grapes to ripen slowly, while retaining bright acidity.
The slate soil
The Mosel’s stony soil and rocky outcroppings reflect sunlight and hold in heat, creating very warm microclimates in the best sites and helping to ensure excellent ripeness. Thin topsoil forces the vines to dig deep for water and nutrients, producing vibrant wines that capture the strong minerality of the soil.
Old, ungrafted vines
Dr. Loosen owns vines that are well over 120 years old, and all are on original rootstock (phylloxera can’t survive in the Mosel, so ungrafted vines are allowed here). Old vines produce naturally lower yields, resulting in higher concentration and richness.
Dry Rieslings
Starting with the 2008 vintage, Ernst Loosen has embarked on a quest to revive the dry Riesling style of his grandfather. Learn more
Accolades for Ernst Loosen
Winery of the Year, 2012, Wine & Spirits
Star Winemaker, Europe, 2010, Wine Behind the label, 7th ed.
European Winery of the Year nominee, 2007 & 2008, Wine Enthusiast
Best German Producer of the Past 25 Years, Wine & Spirits, 2007
Man of the Year 2005, Decanter
White Wine Maker of the Year 2005, Wine International
World’s 50 Most Influential Winemakers, Wine & Spirits
Germany’s Winemaker of the Year 2001, Gault Millau
A clearly pronounced personality: powerful, sometimes wild aromas; a marked acidity, which give it a captivating freshness; a fine roundness, sometimes even opulence. In short, an intense wine which has many cards in its hand to win you over.
Review:
Notes of cherries, cassis, peonies and rich spices preface the 2020 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Murgers, a medium to full-bodied, velvety and concentrated wine that's lively and penetrating. Like its 2019 predecessor, it's especially seamless and charming.
-Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 92-94 Points
Crianza is the essential wine. Balance and integrity. It displays the fine manners of experience and the grace of plethoric vine. Juicy black fruit on the palate inviting you to eat well and feel good.
But there is more. Crianza maintains an invisible pact with the landscape. An imperceptible force that brings us closer to the truth of the place. And instantly turns extreme climate vineyards into the most welcoming place in the world.
Prepared with Tempranillo grapes (100%), this wine has a very bright, intense maraschino cherry colour that fades to a Cardinal red rim.
It has a very marked aroma with a good balance of fruit and wood, where tones of vanilla intermingle with well-ripened fruit, black berries and wild fruits. There are also noticeable hints of leather and liquorice, resulting from the mingling of the French oak and the aromas inherent in this variety of grape.
In the mouth, the wine has a smooth texture but fills the palate with balanced flavours, including fine tannins, which help extend the life of the wine. The finish and aftertaste are both long and elegant.
Vineyard:
Pago de los Capellanes, Pedrosa de Duero.
Variety composition:
100% Tempranillo.
Type of soil:
Clayey and chalky.
Aging:
12 months in barrel and remainder on rack.
Type of oak:
100% French oak, medium toast.
Serving:
Uncork and decant one hour before serving at a temperature of 16-18 ºC.
Selected harvest with yields limited to 5000 kg per hectare. The harvest begins in early October, starting with the most mature parcels. Once the grapes are brought into the winery, the tanks are seeded with indigenous yeast (start culture) and the alcoholic fermentation begins. During the barrelling period, which lasts 30 days, the wine is crushed and pumped over daily, all the while controlling the density, temperature and evolution of the yeast. At the end of this fermentation, the tanks are emptied and the wine taken for malolactic fermentation.
The malolactic fermentation begins without the addition of bacteria. The temperature is held steady at 20ºC for period of 22 days, during which we monitor the levels of malic and lactic acids. When the malic acid content is less than 0.1 grams per litre, the wine is decanted to separate the lees and is transferred directly to the barrels without undergoing any type of filtration, clarification or cold treatment.
The wine is aged for twelve months in new and semi-new French oak barrels (no more than three years old). At the end of this period, it is taken to the tank for homogenisation, where it undergoes light filtration through cartridges (open pore) and is then bottled.