2015 Dr Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese Magnum

The Erdener Treppchen (pronounced AIR-din-er TREP-shen) vineyard is so steep that long ago, stone steps were built into the hillside to enable workers to reach the vines. The iron-rich, red slate soil here produces densely packed wines with a firm mineral structure. This site was rated Erste Lage (“First Vineyard”) in the 1868 Prussian classification of the Mosel vineyards, and is rated “Great First-Class” in the Wine Atlas of Germany by Hugh Johnson & Stuart Pigott (1995) In 2012, it was officially named a Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) by the VDP, Germany’s association of top growers. The Spätlese (“late picked”) designation means that the grapes get an extra week or two of hang time, which helps them develop higher ripeness and deeper flavours than Kabinett. The Erdener Treppchen Spätlese, from a “grand cru” vineyard in the village of Erden, is a fruit-driven Riesling that combines extraordinary concentration and length with bracing minerality.