Loewen’s 2007 Riesling Variador – nick-named by him for the old selection of vines he has re-propagated, and which when ripening quickly become deeply golden – is legally trocken, but since some years it won’t be, Loewen is moving away from using that term on the label (Germans’ fixation with it be damned!). Purple plum and orange in the nose lead to a bright, subtly tart palate infused with crushed stone and alkaline minerality, and tinged in its finish with salt, citrus zest, and brown spices. This wines bright penetration of acidity is somehow amplified by the zesty, nippy notes that suggest a hint of botrytis, so that the effect borders on strident. Time may bring more harmony, but in any case its current personality is well worth relishing. (Loewen’s Alte Reben bottling – from parcels in the Klostergarten – was considerably burdened by bitterness from botrytis.) Karl-Josef Loewen finds similarities in character between 2007 and 2002, which he illustrated with a now spectacular Thornicher Ritsch Spatlese, a wine I already admired in its youth, but about whose combination of botrytis and slight severity of acids I at that stage expressed slight concern. Still, I was not entirely convinced by the analogy, or by certain of Loewen’s 2007s. Few German growers I know are as sanguine about botrytis in general as he, and it certainly touched most of his wines in 2007, at times awkwardly.Importer:Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300