2010 Dr. Loosen Riesling Kabinett Blue Slate
You have read about me drinking Dr. Loosen wines before. I also indicated before that I never drank much of their wines while in Germany, for whatever reasons. But given Dr. Loosen’s prominence in the U.S. and Ernst Loosen’s tireless promotion of Riesling over here, I am finding more and more Loosen wines and try them here. When we went to a wine store and I saw this bottle, we decided to grab it. I am very fond of the crazy 2010 vintage, and I had heard about this particular wine before.
Let me give you some background on the winery: Dr. Loosen is currently owned by Ernst (or Ernie) Loosen. The estate has been family owned for over 200 years. The winery has been a member of the elite winemaker association VDP since 1992 and it owns plots in most of the Mosel’s prestigious vineyards. It is one of the larger estates along the Mosel.
This particular wine is a non-single vineyard Kabinett wine, in the German system the lowest level of quality wine with distinction (if you are not familiar with these denominations, please check out my quick guide here). The winery describes its aim for this wine as producing a light, typical Kabinett style wine. The grapes were sourced from blue slate vineyard sites in Bernkastel, Graach and Wehlen and the wine has 7.5% ABV. You can check out the winery’s description of the wine here.
A greenish yellow in the glass. On the nose subdued aromas of citrus and yellow fruit. On the palate, I got less acidity than I expected (it’s a 2010 after all!), with citrus aromas (grapefruit and tangerine mostly), some melon and early signs of ageing. The noticeable residual sugar gave the wine a medium long finish. The wine seemed a bit thin, though (for lack of other words). All in all, this was a refreshing summer wine, but it was also a bit disappointing: I had definitely expected more minerality and hoped for a stronger expression of flavors. It did pair alright with the Asian food we were having.
Given that we bought it on sale for $15 (it seems to retail for $20 and up) I am not sure the quality to price ratio is right for this wine. Also, keep in mind that for that money you can usually get at least a single vineyard bottle of Kabinett from other established wineries. And, I hate to say it, but their entry level Dr. L Riesling, which can be had for $9 and up, would be my preferred choice, not just for QPR reasons.
The Wine Spectator apparently awarded it 90 points and called it a “smart buy” (noting apple and citrus aromas, with kumquat in the the finish). It also received a Gold Medal at the Los Angeles Wine & Spirits Competition 2012.
the winegetter 