Concentrated tangerine and lemon mark the pungent nose of Lowenstein’s 2010 Riesling Schieferterrassen Reserve, which comes to the palate brightly juicy, focused, yet texturally silken, and with levity that belies its 13% alcohol. Curry, lemon grass, fennel and crushed stone add allure, and this finishes with admirable persistence. It ought to give lots of pleasure for at least the next 4-5 years. Incidentally, Lowenstein has been buying two Stuckfasser a year for the last seven from Nahe-based barrel-maker Hosch, so that even this Schieferterrassen bottling has begun to be significantly impacted by time in cask, and soon – following a general expansion – virtually the entire cellar here will be wood. “We’re almost always a week earlier in picking than, say, Clemens Busch” in Punderich, notes Reinhard Lowenstein, “and that was the case this year as well. We had warm weather at the beginning of October and within a week the berries were turning from green to gold, so we were ready to start. In fact, some of the fruit was really almost too ripe already. We had green bunches with 112 or 115 Oechsle. I would have sworn that there was no way you could have green berries at this stage with more than 95 Oechsle. That’s why we didn’t do much selection, because the few nobly rotten bunches were at around 120 degrees. Of course, there was very little crop” – that from the Stolzenberg, incidentally, was blended-away – “but what concentration! Where we normally expect sugar-free dry extracts from our thin soils in the range of 22-24 grams, this year we got 32-34. And since we’re used to letting the wines do malo, the high acidity at harvest didn’t concern me. But then, for the first time in I can’t remember how many years now, the wines wouldn’t budge! In retrospect, I’m so happy that these wines didn’t go through malo.” Bear in mind, though, that “high acidity” in these vertiginously steep, fast-draining Lower Mosel terraces means musts at 11-13 grams: considerably less than was registered along most stretches of the Middle Mosel. What’s more, the fact that these wines wouldn’t go through malo was not for lack of trying on Lowenstein’s part, meaning that they enjoyed the usual extended cask and lees contact – which naturally helped buffer the acids – and the majority were as usual here bottled in July. Lowenstein further reported having given most wines 12 hours of skin contact (only a bit less than usual) and resulting pHs certainly weren’t so low as to in themselves inhibit malo. So what happened? “I don’t know what it was,” he concluded, “just call it destiny!” If you just got the impression that this collection is exciting, but not what you would have expected at Heymann-Lowenstein, score two correct. For that reason – and because prices went up in response to the paucity of juice (though I have yet to see U.S. retails) – the term “reserve” was included on the labels. On top of their no-malo distinctiveness, these wines belie their levels of alcohol to an extent almost unprecedented in my experience. (And incidentally – because, reading back my own notes I could almost become suspicious! – I tasted these wines at cellar temperature, not cooler, and then let them warm a bit.) Lowenstein has begun offering his customers a choice of natural cork or screwcap, and in fact, is nudging them toward the latter. (“It’s not my field,” he admits, “but I don’t see that white wines need to take on any oxygen in bottle. Right now, I prefer those bottles of my 2008s that were sealed with screwcaps. So far, I’ve noticed no reduction problems (Bocksen), nor any corked screwcapped bottles!”) I tasted from Stelvin-sealed versions – which now represent the majority. In a provocative development, as soon as new EU wine regulations officially opened-up the possibility (within parameters not yet entirely clear) for individual regions or growers to appeal for recognition of distinctions that transcend national wine laws, Lowenstein filed appeals – backed by extensive geological reporting – for EU-recognition of the pre-1971 site names that he has for years been hiding on back-labels; disguising with initials; or describing as “slate forms” (e.g. “Blaufusser Lay,” “Roth Lay,” etc.). Imported by Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland, OR; tel. (888) 274-4312; and The Source Imports, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 621- 6151
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