Loosen’s 10.5% alcohol, dry (though not quite legally trocken) 2009 Riesling Satyricus (for more about whose conception and vineyard sources, consult my review of the 2008 in issue 187) has captured precisely the sense of lift, refreshment, textural polish, and minerality that he intended, its pit fruits and a savory saline suffusion to its citrus and pit fruits lending lip-smacking finishing satisfaction. Wafting, bittersweet floral profusion suggests an entire meadow and adds the perfect element of intrigue. I ask myself “when you can render a dry wine as distinctively delicious as this, why emphasize Grosses Gewachs?” But the answer is obvious … at least as long as “l(fā)ight” automatically translates into “inexpensive” – or, worse yet, “inconsequential,” – in the minds of consumers, whether German or American. I admit to having given Loosen’s domestic sales manager a hard time a couple of months after I tasted this wine because having initially set the ex-cellars price so low, the estate has unwittingly perpetuated precisely this prejudicial association and will have trouble raising that price later, which alone would justify such a use for steep-slope estate fruit. If Satyricus ages like the best of those 9.5-10.5% alcohol Spatlesen and Auslesen trocken of the late ‘80s, or perhaps more relevantly, like the best dry-tasting Mosel wines of the ‘60s and earlier – both the sorts of wine Loosen had in mind in creating this cuvee – then it will still be delicious after 10 or perhaps even 20 years in bottle. That prognostication might seem a stretch, but nobody really knows. Let me just say it wouldn’t at all surprise me. There are plans to offer this cuvee stateside, though I have not yet seen a suggested U.S. retail. “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

Talk about back to the roots: inspired by a 20 year old 1988 Bernkasteler Lay Kabinett trocken of only 10.5% alcohol, Loosen came up with his 2008 Riesling Satyricus, relying on the relatively cool Wehlener Klosterberg to achieve the requisite balance without having to pick prematurely. He fermented the wine in fuder and gave it long lees contact to insure sufficient fat and textural allure. The results – which hit their targeted 10.5% alcohol though at the price of marginally transcending legal Trockenheit – are irresistible, and deserve the widest possible exposure. Honeysuckle, apple blossom, and lily-of-the-valley segue into subtly nutty, herbal, white peach, and apple flavors. Subtly waxy in texture, ultra-refreshing and delicate, this Riesling’s piquancy of toasted nuts and pumpkin seeds, apple pip, peach kernel, and lime zest enhance its sense of invigoration. Enjoy it now – or perhaps even 20 years from now. Ernst Loosen insists he aims to observe an upper limit of 12.5% alcohol for his trocken bottlings, a level that one might have expected was easily achievable in 2008; but in fact, a portion of this vintage’s collection comes close to transgressing it. When it comes to residually sweet Kabinett – a genre in which Loosen has long excelled – his frequently-voiced concerns that “the real thing” was becoming almost impossible (or at least, impossibly expensive) to achieve nowadays certainly do not apply to the 2008 vintage, when his collection of Kabinetts is not only superb, but also lively and feather-light. Indeed, the whole 2008 Loosen Oeuvre – while consisting of fewer wines than usual, with its nobly sweet selections even more (and more spectacularly) focused than usual on Pralat – is superb. What’s more, even cellarmaster Bernard Schug voiced his amazement at just how little sweetness most of the residually sweet wines display.Importer: Loosen Brothers, Portland, OR tel. (510) 864-7255