A Loosen 2008 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Eiswein exudes fresh lemon, pineapple, and distilled herbal essences, harboring dusty, smoky pungency and sharply radish-like bite on its buoyant yet viscous palate. The acids are so strong here that the wine does not taste all that sweet. Like its similarly-frozen stable mates, this is aggressive and as such a tad unruly. Hints of caramel and white raisin point to the presence of shriveled and botrytized fruit in a finish of impressive grip and tooth-rattling invigoration as well as bitterness and bite. Will this knit and/or settle-down with time in bottle? I would not give it more than 5-7 years before revisiting to test that hypothesis.“I want real Kabinetts,” says Ernst Loosen by way of explaining his early start on the 2009 harvest, “between 80 and 83 Oechsle, with crisp acidity, freshness, and the like; and you can’t wait around, especially when you have five, maybe seven days of Kabinett-picking to do and every day ripeness is rising. This year, we wanted to delineate even more sharply the difference between Kabinett and Spatlese, as well as a distinct difference between Spatlese and Auslese.” In practical terms, this meant among other things slightly reducing the levels of residual sugar in the Kabinetts (Loosen says that trend will continue incrementally); and reserving botrytis fruit solely for wines labeled “Auslese.” Eiswein from Lay, Treppchen, and Sonnenuhr; Eiswein and T.B.A. from Pralat; as well as a T.B.A. from Wurzgarten were all – according to cellarmaster Bernhard Schug – in various states of fermentation or preparation for bottling when I visited in September, so consequently I shall review those wines (or at least some subset thereof) at such time as I report on the 2010 vintage.Importer: Loosen Brothers, Portland, OR tel. (510) 864-7255

Dr. Loosen is one of the great estates of Germany, able to produce wonderfully expressive wines. Here is a hugely sweet wine, delicate and fresh, with flavors of maple syrup and mangoes. Enormously complex wine in flavor, but there is nothing—a mere 6.5%—in alcohol. —R.V. ——R.V.(3/1/2003)—— 94