Weingut Carl Loewen Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Kabinett, Mosel, Germany

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Loewen’s 2010 Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Kabinett is scented and juicily filled with musk melon, pumpkin, pear, lime, and grapefruit, accented with sage, toasted almond and salt. There is a faintly but not discordantly lactic note here and otherwise a refreshing slightly tart sense of citricity. Sweetness, too, manages to be well-integrated rather than engendering any sense of bifurcation. This might not be the most charming example of its genre but is certainly full of energy and interest, and apt to be well worth utilizing over the next half dozen or more years. “Nobody knew what to do” in the fall of 2010, maintains Karl-Josef Loewen, “because nobody had every witnessed anything like such a vintage.” He took all but a few of his musts down by one and a half grams of acid using calcium carbonate, which still left them plenty high. “I suspect that if you analyze my wines this year – just as with many classic Mosel Rieslings of a bygone era – you’ll find that some harbor a bit of lactic acid; but I did nothing to encourage malo and none of my wines experienced any profound malo-lactic transformation. What’s more, given the low acidity we are expecting in 2011, I would not want to be one of those growers who invited malo-lactic bacteria to have the run of my cellar. But this much is certain,” he adds: “if you had green, under-ripe aromas in the must this year, then you were never going to get rid of them by any means.” Loewen tends to welcome botrytis, and I can’t help wondering whether that has proven the Achilles heel for some of his drier 2010s, for which berries are generally crushed (this year at times foot-trodden) and given up to 12 hours of skin contact before pressing, techniques that, he acknowledges, should generally presuppose essentially healthy fruit.Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

A faintly cheesy, fermentative “Mosel stink” in the nose of Loewen’s 2009 Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Kabinett is accompanied by yellow plum, peach, and very ripe yet pungent persimmon that combine for a sappy core of fruit expressing itself unemphatically but lingeringly. This should clear off nicely and prove even more delicious over the coming 8-10 years than it is already. Karl-Josef Loewen’s general approach – to as he puts it “make little wine from many bunches, rather than little wine from few bunches” – fits the relatively generous 2009 vintage well in principle, provided however – as he is quick to point out – one let the fruit hang long enough. “The temptation is strong – and it’s common on the Mosel – to treat (read: charcoal-fine) the botrytized musts,” notes Loewen, “be we didn’t do anything this year, and I really think that was the wisest decision I have ever made.” (Incidentally, the trio of upper-Pradikat wines of this collection for which suggested retail prices are not noted will, according to importer Terry Theise, be made available in the U.S. for any merchants whose fancy they take.)Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Spicy, evoking cinnamon and allspice aromas backed by apple and lime on the palate. It's tight and racy, with a long, apple-infused finish. Best from 2011 through 2019.??–BS??Region: Germany / Mosel Select to Add

The Loewen 2008 Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Kabinett – harvested at the same time but from different parcels than the feinherb version – needs to shed a bit of yeasty and cheesy fermentative stink to really reveal itself. It suggests persimmon and pumpkin and exhibits lemony brightness like its close sibling, but the 50 (!) grams of residual sugar here help assuage the sharpness even if there is a somewhat sweet-sour tension here in the final analysis. Really, what this wine may need most is time, and it would be well worth revisiting already this year. Karl-Josef Loewen associates the measurably high dry extracts of his 2008s with their ability to buffer high acids but also to convey mineral characteristics. He was pleased to point out that not one of his dry wines reached 12% alcohol this vintage, and only partly on account of that vintage itself. Especially with his oldest vines, pruning for multiple short canes and de-leafing at critical junctures are among the techniques being employed to diminish the accretion of sugar and maximize flavor. Small berries and clusters are also critical, says Loewen, who does not believe in green harvesting. “The trick,” he opines, “is to make little wine from many bunches, rather than little wine from few bunches.”Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Cinnamon and pineapple aromas and flavors are backed by a lush texture and crisp acidity in this broad kabinett. Needs a little time to harmonize. Best from 2009 through 2018.??–BS??Region: Germany / Mosel Select to Add