2020 Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett

The famous “sundial” vineyard, in the village of Wehlen, produces the quintessential Mosel Riesling Kabinett: elegant and refined, with a racy texture and endless charm. This precipitously steep and rocky vineyard yields some of the most elegant and sophisticated white wines in the world. The classic blue slate soil gives the wines a delicate, crisp acidity that perfectly balances the pure peach and lemon fruit. It’s a lively wine that dances gracefully on the palate.

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Viticulture

The 2020 growing season and harvest both got off to an early start here in the Mosel, but ended up giving us picture-perfect fruit for excellent dry wines, as well as brilliant off-dry and medium-sweet wines at the lower end of the Prädikat spectrum. When describing the 2020 vintage overall, our cellar master, Bernhard Schug, summed it up best by simply calling it “a Kabinett/Spätlese year.”
And owner Ernst Loosen added that 2020 reminded him “of a classic Mosel vintage.”
After a mild winter, our summer began abruptly in April. The warm weather, together with sufficient rainfall, ensured an early and relatively fast budbreak. This resulted in a very early flowering, which began in the second half of May and was already completed by June, even in higher-elevation vineyards. This was followed by a long dry phase that lasted until September
The continuous heat and dryness, with temperatures topping 38° Celsius (100° F) slowed the previously rapid development of the grapes.
As a result, the harvest yield was somewhat lower than had been predicted in summer. However, the yield in 2020 was still 13% higher than the 10-year average, and a whopping 45% higher than in 2019.

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Vinification

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