Carl Loewen Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Kabinett Feinherb

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The 2008 Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Kabinett feinherb represents as usual the drier of two Kabinetts that Loewen bottles from this heterogeneous, rolling, part-slate, part-sand and gravel site that wraps around the village of Leiwen, across the river from the Laurentiuslay. Lemon, thyme, and persimmon inform the nose and palate, where stuffing is allied to almost sharp brightness. I would not have wanted to taste this wine trocken, that’s for sure! Zesty, pungently herbal, and faintly numbing, this certainly has a long finish, but it’s severe. 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

Loewen’s 2006 Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Kabinett feinherb suggests (as is common for this bottling) roasted pumpkin and squash – an impression enhanced in this instance by a waxy texture – with a subtle savory sense of sweetness even though it finishes dry. Also typical for this wine are an insistent and delightful note of salt and a combined impression of stuffing with (at only 10% alcohol) lift and elegance. This stuff is fiendishly food friendly and capable of strutting its stuff for a decade. The higher residual sugar variation on Klosterlay Riesling was picked entirely at the end of harvest, and also from geologically diverse sites. The Mosel’s greatest champion of once-great but recently-neglected sites and one of German viticulture’s most tireless outside-the-box thinkers in the search for quality, Karl-Josef Loewen took extra efforts in 2006 including adding supplemental pickers who helped him harvest in only ten days. He did not begin until October 8, believing that “before then, the ripeness just wasn’t there.” Loewen is notoriously fearless when it comes to harvesting botrytis, but he tended toward more whole-cluster pressing than usual to help guard against impure elements of rot. In an exciting development, beginning this year, Loewen is taking the lead with Carl Schmitt-Wagner in farming the latter’s ancient Riesling in Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg.Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300

Loewen’s 2005 Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Kabinett feinherb smells of pumpkin or winter squash (strangely typical for this wine from a sand and slate soil) with nut oil, citrus, and floral nuances. On the palate, a bright, slightly tart lemon character and high-toned herbal essences overlie a waxy, chalky, squash-, baked apple- and root vegetable-saturated base. Juicy, clear fruit and salty, chalky mineral notes extend the satisfying, dry-tasting (despite 18 grams residual sugar) finish of this lovely and no doubt versatile wine. Amazingly, Loewen relates that a quarter or more of the fruit for this wine – harvested in November – and indeed for nearly all of his dry wines, was botrytised. (The Kabinett bottling with higher residual sugar from another portion of the Klostergarten was diffuse in character and evidently downright uncooperative on the day I tasted it.) Also recommended: 2005 Riesling Alte Reben ($ unknown; 84+?), 2005 Detzemer Maximiner Klosterlay Riesling “Christopher’s Wine” ($ unknown; 85+?), 2005 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Beerenauslese (unavailable; 86).Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300