2018 Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese

Apricot, peach, mirabelle, light melon, warm minerality, well-balanced acidity. The famous “sundial” vineyard produces the quintessential Mosel Riesling: delicate and refined, with racy minerality and endless charm. Spätlese is German for “late picked.” It has more richness and body than Kabinett because the grapes are allowed to ripen for an extra week or more. The extra hang time on the vine allows for greater development of flavour and aroma.

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Viticulture

The 2018 Mosel harvest was the earliest ever recorded, but this we also had an early budbreak and flowering, so the development period for the grapes was still within the ideal target range. The harvest was characterized by good yields, healthy fruit at the beginning of harvest, and very good quality. As the harvest progressed we were able to produce an excellent range of dry wines, as well as wines from every Prädikat level, from Kabinett to Trockenbeerenauslese.
Soil Type: Blue Devonian slate
Age of Vines: 60 years average; ungrafted

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Vinification

Cool fermentation in stainless steel tanks and traditional Fuder barrels; half fermented with natural yeasts, half with cultured yeasts; stopped by chilling