Dr. Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese (375ML half-bottle) 2017
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2017 was an extraordinary year for late harvest riesling in Germany. A long, cool growing season, plus plenty of desirable “noble rot” resulted in special Auslese wines. This Urziger Wurzgarten exhibits powerful aromas of stewed strawberries, ripe apricots, baking spices and golden raisins. Sweet and luxurious on the palate, yet still light and invigorating. Exotic flavors of honey, yellow peach, Bosc pear, grapefruit and a smoky earthiness.
Serve this with a fresh raspberries, a fruit tart, ripe cheeses or Danish butter cookies. Will improve in the bottle for at least a decade.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A stunning wine with so much expression and energy. It has a finish that doesn't want to stop. The final impression is totally fresh and bright. There is quite a bit of sweetness in there, but most people will barely taste it because the balance is so great.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese is clear, precise and fine on the crunchy/slatey nose. Lush and dense on the palate, this is a concentrated yet clear, refined and very elegant Auslese with good mineral structure and a salty-piquant finish with herbal and floral notes. Gorgeous.
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Wine Enthusiast
While the nose suggests spicy earth tones, crushed stone and saffron, lavishly sun-kissed guava, pink grapefruit and peach abound on the palate. Honeyed and silken, it clings on the palate but finishes with a vibrating, steely tang. Lovely already but it will improve for decades.
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Wine Spectator
Mineral-driven, with a lively profile, featuring notes of nectarine, lemon oil, candied orange peel and sweet spice. The acidity is very prominent and cuts the sweetness significantly, leaving a mouthwatering impression on the long finish. Best from 2021 through 2036.
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The Dr. Loosen Estate has been in the same family for over 200 years. With ungrafted vines averaging 50 years old, some of the best vineyard sites in Germany (four rated grand cru and two premier cru by both the 1868 German classification and the more current Wine Atlas of Germany), Ernst Loosen has the raw materials for stunningly intense, world-class wines. With crop yields almost half of what is permitted by law, only moderate use of organic fertilizers, and old-fashioned cellar practices, Loosen strives to create wines that unmistakably say, "Riesling, Mosel, and Dr. Loosen." In his own words, "The great winemakers I have met invariably possess a clear concept in their mind of what their wine should be. It's a vision that places terroir over technology, and grape quality over quantity. This is the level of winemaking we pursue at Dr. Loosen. Our goal is to produce wines that are luscious, complex, and true to their roots."
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Following the Mosel River as it slithers and weaves dramatically through the Eifel Mountains in Germany’s far west, the Mosel wine region is considered by many as the source of the world’s finest and longest-lived Rieslings.
Mosel’s unique and unsurpassed combination of geography, geology and climate all combine together to make this true. Many of the Mosel’s best vineyard sites are on the steep south or southwest facing slopes, where vines receive up to ten times more sunlight, a very desirable condition in this cold climate region. Given how many twists and turns the Mosel River makes, it is not had to find a vineyard with this exposure. In fact, the Mosel’s breathtakingly steep slopes of rocky, slate-based soils straddle the riverbanks along its entire length. These rocky slate soils, as well as the river, retain and reflect heat back to the vineyards, a phenomenon that aids in the complete ripening of its grapes.
Riesling is by far the most important and prestigious grape of the Mosel, grown on approximately 60% of the region’s vineyard land—typically on the desirable sites that provide the best combination of sunlight, soil type and altitude. The best Mosel Rieslings—dry or sweet—express marked acidity, low alcohol, great purity and intensity with aromas and flavors of wet slate, citrus and stone fruit. With age, the wine’s color will become more golden and pleasing aromas of honey, dried apricot and sometimes petrol develop.
Other varieties planted in the Mosel include Müller-Thurgau, Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), all performing quite well here.