Winemaker Notes
The insanely steep, red-soil Ürziger Würzgarten vineyard produces wines of a completely unique nature in the Mosel valley. The wines showcase the typically juicy and precocious fruit of the "spice garden" vineyard, with a rich mouth feel, brisk acidity and lingering finish. Spätlese is produced with grapes that have a week or two extra hang time, but still without any botrytis. The extra time on the vine gives them higher ripeness and deeper flavors.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A sensational Mosel riesling Spatlese that has an incredibly dynamic tension between the mineral and herbal freshness and the juicy stone and berry fruit character. These words can really only hint at the true complexity. Terrific drive in the very long and energetic finish.
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Vinous
The 2023 Riesling Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese isn't ready to reveal its charms on the nose, but the palate is a beautifully savory, stony, salty monument to fruit and stone, with herbal savor of deadnettle, tansy and yarrow and the juiciest tangerine. It's vivacious, bright, compact and fine, radiating aroma.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese is intense and savory yet also still reductive on the nose that is dominated by sulfur, citrus fruits and notes of crushed stones and herbs. Round and savory on the palate, with crystalline and saline acidity, this is a remarkably fine and filigreed Würzgarten with a stimulating saline, savory and finely juicy finish. 8.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork.
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Wine Spectator
Sweet, earthy wheatgrass and herbs overlay delicate green apple and peach in this balanced, pure spatlese. Bitter mineral, spicy ginger and cool crushed slate notes course throughout, with tangy acidity landing the energetic finish.
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.