Highlight in the press by wine for Dr Loosen for the 2019 Vintage
Mosel Fine Wines Reviewed by Jean Fisch and David Rayer
“The Estate took the opportunities offered by the vintage to produce a superb array of engaging wines offering great drinking pleasure. Few elements underline this “joie de vivre” oozed by the Dr. Loosen wines as its portfolio of Estate wines. These are made in large quantities and are widely available and yet are simple superb ambassadors of Mosel Riesling. The GGs are juicy and hugely appealing, but one needs to take into account their primary fruitiness in order to choose the optimal drinking moment. The fruity-styled wines are, as always, hugely enjoyable. However, where the Estate outdid itself in 2019 is at the fully noble-sweet end of the scale. Its BAs, TBAs, and the stunning Prälat Auslese lange GK are simply magnificent wines as they combine creamy drama with utter juiciness. As usual, it is hard to go wrong by drinking Dr. Loosen!” October 2020. Issue No. 54
Dr. Loosen Riesling Dry “Red Slate” 2019
[90-91] Wine Advocate
This wine is intense and concentrated yet pure and fresh on the intensely fruity and slatey but still yeasty nose. Medium-bodied, creamy textured and charming, it is round and clear on the elegant and juicy palate, with tropical flavors. And for the moment, it is still rich yet refined and elegant, with mouthwatering salinity on the finish. Tasted as a sample in April 2020. August 2020
[91] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Lots of herb and red-berry aromas with a very striking harmony of medium body, crisp acidity and a long finish with a lot more of the herbal-mineral character. Drink or hold. September 2020
[89] Mosel Fine Wines
Proves still somewhat backward at first and takes a good day at this stage to reveal its engaging nose made of pear puree, grapefruit, starfruit, brown sugar, a touch of whipped cream, earthy spices, and smoke. The wine is nicely spicy and precise on the palate and leaves a gorgeous feel of juicy and subtly creamy fruits packed into earthy
spices in the long and engaging finish. This is a beautiful and really easy-to-understand expression of Mosel Riesling to enjoy over the coming years. This Estate wine truly delivered in 2019. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling GG 2019
[92-93+] Wine Advocate
Bright, fresh and flinty on the deep, precise and refreshing nose. This is an attractive, well-structured Treppchen that is racy and vital on the first attack but not very intense or dense on the mid-palate. Tasted from a very generously sulfured sample in April 2020. August 2020
[92] Mosel Fine Wines
Offers a beautiful nose made of blueberry, pear puree, melon, grapefruit, chalky minerals, smoke, and residual scents from its spontaneous fermentation. The wine is nicely juicy and playful on the currently smooth rather than bone-dry palate and leaves a superb feel of minerals and herbs in the long finish. A touch of presence and power adds to the persistence of the finish. October 2020
[17.5] Jancis Robinson
Quite gentle on the nose with fennel representing the herbal element, while nuances of peach and yellow plums bring fruit to the fragrance. The palate is more forward with juicy stone fruit and a rich viscous texture. Even minerality is served in liquid form with an appetising saline flavour. Well balanced and quite accessible already. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Graacher Domprobst Riesling GG 2019
[95] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Dark and earthy, but with great cassis and white peaches. On the palate both ripe and racy, the finish very long and beautifully balanced. Drink or hold. September 2020
[92-94] Wine Advocate
Pure, lean and fresh on the stony and citrus-scented nose. On the palate, this is a tight and fresh Domprobst that is still linear and straight but not very sexy. It is crystalline and elegant, fine and intense but doesn’t have the dimensions of the Würzgarten or the Sonnenuhr. The finish is quite floral. Tasted as a sample in April 2020. August 2020
[91] Mosel Fine Wines
It is marked by some residual scents from its spontaneous fermentation and only gradually reveals a beautifully aromatic and finely chiseled nose made of elderflower, blueberry, citrusy elements, and lots of herbs and spices. The wine is nicely precise on the palate and leaves a fruity and subtly creamy feel in the long and slightly smooth-tasting finish. The after-taste is however full of zest and fresh flavors. This currently almost off-dry tasting Riesling really needs a few more years in bottle to reveal its goods. It will then prove a hugely drinkable and playful expression of dry Mosel Riesling. October 2020
[17] Jancis Robinson
Still showing the after-effects of fermentation with a sweet pear-drop aroma, but a cool notion of fresh green herbs adds interest. A supple texture is not too bothered by acidity, the necessary edge being provided by a subtle bitter piquancy derived from notes of quinine and Seville orange. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Graacher Himmelreich Riesling GG 2019
[96] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Delicately leafy nose of considerable complexity, then a very concentrated, filigree palate with a super fresh, very long slate finish. Drink or hold. September 2020
[92-95] Wine Advocate
Bright, coolish and flinty on the thrilling nose. Intense and concentrated on the palate, this is a rich, juicy and compact GG from the Himmelreich, but it is not really singing just now. The acidity is playful, but the wine seems quite mighty at this early stage — six months before the bottling. The finish is pure and salty but also creamy. Provisional score. Tasted as a sample in April 2020. August 2020 Highlights from the Press – Dr. Loosen 2019 (page 2)
[92] Mosel Fine Wines
Offers a hugely aromatic nose made of mirabelle, carraway, cream, smoke, and herbal elements. The wine develops a great juicy fruitiness on the palate and leaves an engaging and fruit-driven feel in the finish. The after-taste is hugely spicy and herbal but above all engaging, deep, and nicely persistent. This fruity and subtly ripe expression of dry Riesling will need a few years to shed its primary smoothness and reveal its cut. October 2020
[17.5] Jancis Robinson
Pear drops and Glacier mints may be pleasant aromas per se, but still reflect very much the effects of fermentation rather than the true character of the wine. On the palate you cannot fault the classic combination of sweet fruit and animating acidity. Apple and pear contribute flesh, mandarin adds zest and juice. But before we can criticise the Himmelreich for being content with the one dimension of sweet seduction, a delicate salty tang adds a tad of minerality for additional interest. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling GG 2019
[96] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
— [#59] Top 100 Wines of Germany 2020 —
This is an extrovert Mosel GG with a ton of spice and berry aromas that are just beginning to open up. At once succulent and elegant on the palate, it manages to be complex and easy to understand, the finish very long and pure. Drink or hold. September 2020, November 2020
[93-95] Wine Advocate
Bright, fine and aromatic on the generous but precise, flinty, elegant and complex nose. Juicy, piquant and intense on the palate, this is a complex, persistent, tight and sustainable Riesling with remarkable complexity and grip. Tasted as a sample in April 2020. August 2020
[93+] Mosel Fine Wines
The wine is subtly creamy, profound, and racy on the palate and leaves a fruity rather than mineral feel in the finish. The after-taste is driven by mirabelle, earthy spices, and pear. This gorgeous and slightly fruity expression of dry Riesling will need a few years to develop its cut. It could then easily exceed our high expectations, especially as the underlying complexity seems truly remarkable. October 2020
[17.5] Jancis Robinson
Apple, pear and more than a hint of spice delight the olfactory perception, although there’s also still a little yeasty exuberance of youth. Very viscous on the palate. Juicy stone fruit makes the first call, but is getting caught up by a cool stony minerality towards the finish. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling GG 2019
[95-96] Wine Advocate
Pure, fresh and flinty on the bright and refreshing nose. Tight and piquant on the palate, this is an intense, complex and sustainable Riesling full of tension, finesse and grip. Impressive again and with a lot of energy. You can enjoy it even today! Tasted as a sample in April 2020. August 2020
[95] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Succulent and filigree with tons of white peaches and super vibrant acidity. Enormous freshness and a really vibrant finish. Drink or hold. September 2020
[92] Mosel Fine Wines
Offers a hugely engaging nose made of blueberry, white flowers, whipped cream, smoke, and subtly tannic elements. The wine proves smooth and hugely alluring on the creamy and profound palate, and leaves a juicy rather than bone-dry feel in the long finish. This wine is still very much work in progress and will need many years to integrate its smoothness and reveal its underlying cut. October 2020
[17.5] Jancis Robinson
A charming fragrance combines floral and herbal with aromas of ripe yellow fruit and a hint of earthy minerality. On the palate the fruit of peach and pear takes the initiative, but is well balanced by cool mint and fine nuances of spice with aniseed the most prominent. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Bernkasteler Johannisbrünnchen Riesling GG 2019
[91+] Mosel Fine Wines
Still proves hugely backward and it takes a few days at the moment for it to shed its early ripe aromatics and reveal a superbly refreshing nose made offers a hugely aromatic nose made of pear, starfruit, blueberry, cassis, a hint of earthy cardamom, whipped cream, floral elements, and smoke. The wine is subtly creamy and fruity on the currently juicy rather than bone-dry palate and leaves an engaging and direct feel of herbs, spices, whipped cream, lemony zest, and pear in the long finish. This gorgeous dry Riesling will benefit hugely from a few years of bottle aging. We would not be surprised if it then even will exceed our expectations. The balance and engaging juiciness packed in this wine are very appealing! October 2020
Dr. Loosen Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett 2019
[92] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Cool and crisp with tons of apple, cassis and mint character and a wonderful light touch. Stunningly refreshing! Drink or hold. September 2020
[90] Mosel Fine Wines
It offers a subtly ripe nose made of pear puree, whipped cream, blueberry, earthy spices, smoke, a hint of camphor, and lemon zest. The wine is beautifully juicy on the palate and leaves a subtly creamy yet still overall zesty feel in the long, playful, and nicely direct finish. The after-taste lives from a beautiful tension between earthy and creamy elements and lemony flavors. October 2020
[88-89] Wine Advocate
Sweet, juicy and pretty generous but still delicate and light on the palate. August 2020
Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Alte Reben 2019
[96] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Stunning aromas of beautiful lemon curd, apricots and anise. Packed with fruit and so succulent, although it is properly dry. Very intense, long finish with anise, fennel and minerals. Drink or hold. September 2020
Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett 2019
[94] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
A stunning Kabinett with enormous vitality, the lemon, anise and chamomile aromas driven by vibrant acidity that pushes the finish way out there. Drink or hold. September 2020
[92-93] Wine Advocate
Pure, crystal clear and flinty on the nose, displaying bright Riesling fruit with delicate notes of crushed blue slate. Juicy and salty-piquant on the palate, this is a stimulatingly salty, intense and hedonistic Kabinett with a lively and frisky finish. Tasted as a sample in April 2020. August 2020
[91] Mosel Fine Wines
A rather direct nose made of grapefruit, melon, whipped cream, a hint of apricot, a touch of cardamon and other earthy spices, some herbs, and smoke. The wine develops the engaging and juicy Schmelz of a Spätlese on the palate and leaves a nicely mouthwatering feel in the direct and playfully zesty finish. This delivers on the pleasure front. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett 2019
[94] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Lots of berry and herb aromas make this a very striking Kabinett, then a brilliant interplay of acidity, fruit and spice gives it a lot of excitement. Drink or hold. September 2020
[90-92] Wine Advocate
The sample of the 2019 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett is still very reductive on the bright and floral nose. Juicy and round on the palate, this is a salty-piquant and stimulating Kabinett with good freshness and tension. Tasted in April 2020. August 2020
[91] Mosel Fine Wines
A rather ripe and subtly ample nose made of pear, cassis, cardamom, minty herbs, whipped cream, a hint of blueberry, and quite some residual scents from its spontaneous fermentation. The wine develops a juicy creaminess of a Spätlese on the palate but leaves a firmly zesty and minty feel full of cut in the engaging finish. Some riper scents of almond, apricot, and honey add to the under-toned richness of the sensorial experience. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 2019
[91-93] Wine Advocate
Very clear, fine and subtle on the fresh and reductive nose. Round and piquant as well as light on the palate, this is Kabinett is quite sweet but clear and salty, with a filigreed structure, juicy fruit and a grippy finish. This is an excellent Kabinett, but it needs to age least 5 years to reduce its sweetness. Tasted as a sample in April 2020. August 2020
[92] Mosel Fine Wines
Offers a subtly creamy and still massively backward nose made of floral elements, apricot blossom, pear, blueberry, earthy spices, and quite some residual scents from its spontaneous fermentation. The wine is rather sharp and yet creamy on the ripe-tasting palate and leaves a citrusy feel in the long and currently sweet-sour finish. This fruity-styled wine cut along the mold of the old “drinking Auslese of the 1990s” will need some time to reveal its finesse but the wait will be worth it. This is plain delicious in a fruity andengaging style. October 2020
[92] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Elegant and playful with plenty of white fruit, then stunning freshness at the very crisp, lemony finish. Drink or hold. September 2020
Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese 2019
[95] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
How can a wine be so succulent, yet so tightly wound? Serious concentration and a very long, spicy finish with stunning minerality. Drink or hold. September 2020
[91] Mosel Fine Wines
Offers a subtly ample and aromatic nose made of pineapple, almond cream, button mushroom, smoke, and earthy spices. The wine is firm and racy on the palate and leaves a subtly ripe and exotic feel of almond cream pepped up by fruity and spicy elements in the long and lingering finish. The after-taste is still a bit sharp at the moment, but this will go away after a few years of bottle aging. This lightly exotic yet very engaging expression of Spätlese will then offer much fun. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese 2019
[94] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Generous and spicy, but with very racy acidity and a long, energetic finish that’s super crisp. So food-friendly, in spite of the obvious, natural-grape sweetness. Drink or hold. September 2020
[92] Mosel Fine Wines
Offers a subtly ample nose made of apricot, mango, pear, starfruit, ginger, herbs, and quite pungent elements of earthy spices. The wine is direct and lives currently from a sweet-creamy and zesty tension on the palate and leaves a juicy, straight, and quite mouthwatering feel in the long and alluring finish. Saffron and herbal elements drive the
flavors in the after-taste. This subtly exotic yet still nicely juicy expression of Spätlese will need a few years to tame its current youthful exuberance. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 2019
[94] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Very elegant with lovely white fruit and a long, filigree and so delicate finish. Drink or hold. September 2020
[92] Mosel Fine Wines
A rather pure and subtly ample nose made of pear puree, vineyard peach, apricot blossom, almond cream, smoky elements, and floral notes. The wine is gorgeously playful and finely chiseled on the palate and leaves a beautifully lingering feel in the creamy yet zesty finish. The after-taste is all about apricot, almond paste, and exotic flavors packed into racy zest. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese 2019
[95] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Stunning Auslese with a great interplay of dried-strawberry, stonefruit and anise character. Very long, super tense wine with a lot of power at the very long finish. Drink or hold. September 2020
[91] Mosel Fine Wines
Offers a nicely exotic nose made of cassis, pineapple, elderflower, coconut, almond cream, earthy spices, saffron, grapefruit, and smoke. The wine proves packed with fresh flavors on the nicely creamy yet finely zesty palate and leaves one with a juicy feel of fresh exotic fruits, a hint of whipped cream, a touch of honey, and some herbs in the engaging finish. The after-taste reveals a slightly riper and more direct side as apricot, melon, dried fruits, saffron, and pear round of the experience. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese 2019
[95] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
A really beautiful, concentrated Auslese that combines a lot of citrus character with complex, spicy notes. The long finish is super fresh and very mineral. Drink or hold. September 2020
[92] Mosel Fine Wines
A hugely complex and intense nose which combines fresh elements including elderflower, blueberry, and mint with more BA-related scents such as almond cream, dried fruits, herbs, and spices. The wine proves ripe and earthy on the creamy yet zesty palate and leaves a mouthwatering feel in the long, smooth, and earthy finish. The after-taste is direct and driven by aniseed herbs, pear puree, and licorice but also a very pure sense of almond paste. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 2019
[95] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Rich, but very elegant and creamy with beautiful, peachy character and lovely, floral-honey notes. Long, very silky finish. Drink or hold. September 2020
[93] Mosel Fine Wines
A rather engaging nose made of pear, earthy spices, button mushroom, whipped cream, honey, spices, and a hint of dried fruits. It proves nicely zesty but also direct on the palate but reveals quite some depth in the impeccably balanced finish. The earthy side adds depth to the juicy, nicely complex, and subtly almond-infused after-taste. October 2020
Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese GoldKapsel 2019
[98] JamesSuckling.com (Stuart Pigott)
Forget dessert and substitute it for this much more delicious and healthy option! The wonderfully fragrant mango, papaya and mangosteen nose pulls you deep into this concentrated but super elegant Auslese with a very long, powerful finish. The sweetness is already beautifully integrated. Drink or hold. September 2020
[94] Mosel Fine Wines
Offers a rather subtle and backward nose made pear, starfruit, dried fruits, earthy spices, a hint of truffle, aniseed herbs, and fine almondinfused elements. The wine is beautifully firm and structured on the palate and leaves an herbal and spicy feel in the melon, starfruit, and pear cream infused finish. The after-taste is all about herbs and spices at this early stage. This backward expression of dessert wine will need quite a few years to reveal its balance and complex charm. October 2020