Winemaker lunch with Ernst Loosen
Ernst Loosen has during his time at the helm of the Dr. Loosen vineyards and winery managed to create a series of very good wines. He has also had great success in marketing wines internationally. When Ernst Loosen was in Sweden to present a selection of his wines on a tasting BKWine was there with our reporter Roland Eriksson. Read about the wines and the winemaker.
A few chilled glasses of Mosel wine and Gastrologik’s starred and experimental cuisine… it is hard to say no to that! And to once again meet Ernst is also fun. Last time it was in London when he presented a vertical of Eroica Riesling a partnership with Chateau Ste Michelle in Washington State.
Dr. Loosen is a more than 200 years old family business. The origin is six Erste Lage (approx. French grand cru) classified vineyard locations near Bernkastel-Kues in the Moselle Valley, with the top wine Erdener Prälat at the summit, where they only produces sweet wines.
When Ernst Loosen took over the operation in the 1980s, along with his friend and winemaker Bernard Shug, they decided to take advantage of the now 60 year old vines by lowering yields, ferment slowly, just use natural yeast and keep their fingers away so much as possible in the vinification process.
Today, Ernst Loosen is a well-known German wine profile, always colourfully dressed, enthusiastic and dynamic! You could almost say that he is a “brand” all by himself, especially given that he has over 200 days of travelling in a year.
The winery produces wines ranging from dry to sweet treats, if nature allows derived from shrivelled and frozen grapes, all from Germany’s famous riesling grape! Demand is high and when their own grapes are not enough they buy from contracted growers for the very affordable best-sellers Dr. L Riesling and Dr. L Riesling Old Vines Cabinet (ed. note.: Old Vines seems to be only, or mainly, sold in Sweden).
Either way, it was a very nice lunch where the wines married well Gastrologik’s exciting and sometimes strange menu.
Dr. L Riesling 2012
Colour: pale yellow.
Nose: young, fresh, some citrus, mineral.
Taste: light, young, citrus, apple, mineral, slightly more than half dry with some residual sweetness.
~8-9€, 77p
Gracher Himmelreich Riesling Grosses Gewächs dry 2011
Colour: pale yellow.
Nose: young, fresh, some concentration, mineral, yellow apple, lime.
Taste: Young, medium bodied, spritzy, yellow apple, mineral, tropical fruit and some fat.
Nice now but will be better with a few years of storage.
Conceived price (not available) ~28-30€, 85p.
Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Grosse Gewächs dry 2011
Colour: pale yellow.
Nose: young, fresh, closed, yellow apple, citrus, mineral.
Taste: young, light, fresh, citrus, mineral, certain length.
Age it 2-5 years.
Conceived price (not available) ~28-30€, 81p.
Erdener Treppchen Riesling Grosse Gewächs dry 2011
Colour: pale yellow.
Nose: young, medium sized, lemon, lime, mineral.
Taste: young, medium-bodied, fresh, citrus, mineral, tingly, good length.
Age it 2-5 years.
Conceived price (not available) ~20-22€, 82p.
Dr. L Riesling Kabinett 2012 Old Vines
Colour: pale yellow
Nose: young, fresh, grapey, tropical fruit.
Taste: fresh with lively acid, tropical fruit, mineral, and with some residual sweetness.
~10-11€, 79p.
Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett 2012
Colour: pale yellow.
Nose: young, medium sized, sweet, grapey, tropical fruit, mango.
Taste: medium bodied, almost semi-sweet, with lively acid, mineral, mango.
~14-16€, 81p.
Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett 1980
Color: light golden.
Nose: big, ripe, honey, saffron, beeswax and petroleum.
Taste: the fresh, plump, ripe, honey, saffron, with good acidity considering the age.
Riesling is an amazing grape that gives wines with a very long life. As for the 1982 below, this wine is over 30 years old and still quite lively. However, you probably have to learn to appreciate the somewhat odd taste and smell of an older wine.
81p.
Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 2012
Colour: pale yellow.
Aroma: Young, grapey, mineral, citrus.
Taste: young, medium-bodied, mineral, citrus notes, some spritz and certain length.
~20-22€, 83p.
Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 1982
Color: light golden.
Nose: big, ripe, sweet, slightly smoky, petroleum.
Taste: ripe, perfumed, violet candy, petroleum, caramel, subdued sweetness and some acidity.
82p.
Dr. Loosen Beerenauslese 2010
Colour: pale yellow.
Nose: young, medium, somewhat closed notes of peach, citrus.
Taste: young, semi-sweet, plum jam, peach, citrus and quite long.
Good now but should be aged 2-5 years. Good idea bottling the wine in a really small bottle which is enough for 2-4 people for a light dessert.
~11-12€ (18.7 cl), 84p.
Roland Eriksson writes on BKWine Magazine on wine tastings with wine merchants and importers in Sweden. Roland is the author of a book on cognac (A Handbook: Cognac, 2007, published in Swedish) and one on rum as well as one on tea.
[box type=”info” style=”rounded” border=”full”]The Mosel Valley in Germany is a spectacular wine region to visit and to travel in. It is one of the many exciting wine tour destinations that BKWine has organised tours to.
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