Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese

Dr. Loosen is a wine producer based just outside Bernkastel in the Mosel region, easily one of Germany's most famous Riesling producers, and has won numerous awards for numerous wines from the portfolio. The estate owns six major vineyards, all of which were designated as Erste Lage in the 1868 Prussian Classification of Mosel vineyards.

Zach. Bergweiler-Prüm Erben is Mosel winemaker Ernst Loosen’s exploration of the historical winemaking traditions of his family. This singular project pays tribute to Ernst’s maternal great-grandfather, who was a major Mosel wine producer at the turn of the 20th century. Born in 1861, Zacharias Bergweiler built a substantial wine estate in the village of Wehlen. The wines are grown and produced according to the extremely patient and low-intervention practices used in the time of Zacharias, when German Rieslings enjoyed their greatest reputation around the world. Loosen took this legacy as an opportunity to carry his ancestors' style into the present. The plot is cultivated without chemicals and exclusively by hand.

Auslese means “selected from the harvest,” and is made from very ripe clusters that are about 50 percent affected by botrytis. The resulting wine is dense, intensely flavored and rich on the palate, but retains the fine structure that is characteristic of this great site. The grapes were pressed in a restored basket press from 1910, then fermented naturally and matured for 24 months in a traditional 1,000-liter Fuder cask. 

Rrich yet also fine and multi-layered on the elegant, delicately slatey nose. Dense and rich on the palate and definitely sweet yet also spicy, with delicate acidity and a savory slate note, this is a tasty and generous but still not a little playful Sonnenuhr that will gain finesse and complexity over many years.

Total production: 1200 bottles