2022 Dr Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Grosses Gewächs

The ungrafted vines from which we produce this great Riesling are up to 120 years old. They reside in a plot called “Urglück,” a steep site that rises steeply directly behind the village in the heart of the Würzgarten. The vines grow in red volcanic and slate soil that gives the wine aromas of spice along with tropical fruits, such as pineapple and mango. The must is fermented spontaneously in a 1,000-liter barrel and sits on the full lees for twelve months.

The dry wine from a VDP.GROSSE LAGE vineyard is the VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS (GG). The best wines, with complex taste, expressive site character and special ripening potential mature in the Grosse Lagen. The grapes are harvested and selected by hand. Only healthy grapes from the best plots are fermented spontaneously in neutral oak barrels (1,000 to 3,000 liters) and matured for at least 12 months on the full lees. – Dr Loosen

They say that Riesling is one of the best translators of site going around. And if you have ever been lucky enough to have bobbed and weaved your way down the Mosel and ended up in the Ürziger Würzgarten vineyard, and then had the opportunity to taste a wine from the imposing site, it would be almost impossible to argue that Riesling is in fact THE best translator of site bar none. Sure, other grapes do a similar thing, but once you get your head around the great sites of the Mosel there is nothing more distinctive than drinking the wines that come from the slatey, volcanic soils that hug the river banks. Every year Würzgarten wears its heart on its sleeve with pride and it again does so this year with a hedonistic and expressive wine being the result of the at times challenging 2022 vintage. The more upbeat and spicy aromatic profile of the wine is kept in check by the lacy acidity which means you can’t help but go back for more. Characterful, moreish and thirst quenching. The perfect combo…. Michael Jappy, CellarHand