Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett

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.

This Kabinett was selectively harvested from a parcel of 130-year-old, ungrafted vines that was handed down by Zacharias. Picked at optimal Kabinett ripeness early in the harvest, the grapes were gently pressed in a restored basket press from 1910, then fermented and matured for 24 months in a traditional 1,000-liter Fuder cask. On the full lees; no batonnage; no fining; light filtration before bottling; held four years in bottle before release. 

The Kabinett is a delightfully light-hearted, festive wine: complex, with elegant, mouth-filling fruit, a delicate structure, and a serious, delicately spicy finish.

Total production: 1200 bottles