Weingut Carl Loewen Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Eiswein, Mosel, Germany

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The 2016 (Leiwener) Klostergarten Riesling Eiswein (AP #20) is terribly precise and piquant on the perfectly concentrated nose with bright, precise fruit aromas. Sweet but very piquant and refined on the palate, this is a gorgeously well-defined and elegant yet dense and textured ice wine with great articulation of fruit, terroir and frost. This is a fascinating Eiswein bottled with 6.5% alcohol and immeasurable precision. Fabulous! Tasted March 2018 (AP #20).

2010 年的 Leiwener Klostergarten Eiswein 氣味可怕，酸度不和諧，風(fēng)味以干木瓜、桃汁和檸檬汁為主。太過明亮，帶金屬光澤，同時甜味淺薄，當(dāng)然這只是個人觀點。

Although it would, he says, have been possible on many subsequent days to have harvested a wine of this name, Loewen’s 2009 Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Eiswein was picked already on December 19. Sharp scents of musky radish and citrus peel introduce a palate of decidedly sweet-sour – and of Beerenauslese-Eiswein countenance. Spiced apple cider, caramel, and peach preserves are laced with sharp citrus, and the musky aromatic elements threaten to transform themselves into advanced decadence and rank animality. This is at once admirably well-concentrated and delicate, but it represents Loewen’s determination to harvest in this genre – and, in effect, his broad vision of that genre – even when the late-hanging fruit is botrytized and arguably fatigued, and whose results won’t represent every Riesling lover’s cup of Eiswein. I would plan on enjoying this over the next 2-3 years, and its exotic decadence might well prove synergistic in certain sybaritic contexts. 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

Harvested the day after his Auslese and in his usual frost pocket, Loewen’s 2008 Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Eiswein smells sharply of fresh lemon and lemon zest, honey and yellow plum preserves, all of which inform a palate both viscous and severely bright, the intensity of frost-concentrated acids in conjunction with botrytis here translating into pungent prickling and considerable back-end drying. Bitterly herbal, minty, and resinous notes add to the aggressive impact. This is impressive in its way, but not a way I would choose to go. I can at least agree with Loewen that it would not have been good to let these grapes hang on into January! 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 perpetual pursuit of frozen grapes in a site ideally situated for winter chill continues with his 2007 Leiwener Klostergarten Riesling Eiswein. Pungent candied lemon rind, hints of mushroom, distilled yellow plum and pear, and wood smoke tweak the nose, sending shivers down my spine. Over-ripe plum and pear are shot through with lemon on the palate, but there is a silken smoothness of texture and luscious richness, rather than the angularity or aggressive brightness that characterizes so many young Eiswein, and which the nose here had led me to expect (or fear). A rather dreamy, wafting finish is not terribly focused and unusually mild for the genre, but still hauntingly lovely. Loewen says that in view of “80% botrytis” he was pleasantly surprised when this realized a sense of true Eiswein character, as well as the lift and wafting elegance that typify many of the best wines of its vintage. Hints of honey and caramel lend a Beerenauslese sense to the long, as yet somewhat superficially sweet finish. No doubt this will be worth following for at least 10-12 years, but I hesitate to speculate about the sort of evolution in store. Both botrytis and frost are wild cards in Riesling deck and when both are present, the game can take surprising turns. 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