2022 Weingut Dr. Loosen, Riesling Trocken, Ürziger Würzgarten VDP Grosse Gewächs, Alte Reben, Mosel, Germany.
Following the outstanding 2020 version and the 2015 Reserve Ürziger Würzgarten GG, both that I’ve had recently, the latest 2022 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten GG dry Riesling again was outstanding, it is pure, distinctive and expressively terroir driven. The spicy and slatey mineral elements lead the way here in this Grand Cru dry Riesling, giving a burst of exotic fruit, crisp acidity and delicate tropical notes, adding a nice background from which can shine with tangerine, white peach, kiwi and tart green apple fruits, as well as wet flinty stones, rosewater, a touch of verbena and lychee accents. As always the case here, the old vine Ürziger Würzgarten GG is bone dry, but still wonderfully generous and richly textural in the mouth. There’s a serious sense of palate impact in the glass that is absolutely thrilling, this vintage might be the best I’ve tried from Loosen, it has a fine balance and age worthy structure, even now it delivers almost perfection. Grosses Gewächs (GG) means “great growth” and is the designation for an estate’s best dry wine, or Trocken, with grapes coming exclusively from a Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) vineyard site as recognized by the VDP. The iconic Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling GG is, as the winery notes, one of the most famous in the Mosel, that has a special parcel of old vines (“Alte Reben”) that lies directly behind the village that are exclusive to Loosen. This block is still referred to by its historical name, Urglück and these vines are about 120 years old now and are sustainably farmed to allow for concentration, transparency and crystalline purity, which is on display in this magnificent pale straw hued wine.
The Ürziger Würzgarten, which translates to the “Spice Garden”, as mentioned in prior notes is a celebrated steep vineyard and Loosen’s vines are highly coveted for the intensity of the fruit and the historic nature of the place. This Grosses Gewachs, as noted above, sees the exclusive use of the un-grafted old vines, they are up to 120 years old and located in a plots which rise up from behind the Ürzig Village and set on this vineyard’s famous red volcanic veined soils, sandstone and weathered slate. That gives the wines its distinctive delicate aromas, generous fruit and those exotic spices. As mentioned often here, the legendary Ernst Loosen, a larger than life figure in the world of wine, took control of his family’s over 200 hundred year old Mosel estate in 1988, that was blessed with some awesome steep, primarily slate dominated vineyards of very old un-grafted old Riesling vines. He makes an incredible collection of traditional wines from Kabinett to Auslese, as well as his Dry offerings, like this one, from some of the Mosel’s best sites. The Loosen Grand Cru GG’s are fermented with indigenous yeasts in traditional 1,000-liter Fuder casks and are matured on the full lees for 12 months with no bâtonnage (or stirring of the lees), making for expressive, stylish and profound wines, with this Dry Ürziger Würzgarten GG being one of the favorites. Again, there is a lot to like here at Loosen and these 2022s are looking good and this wine in particular will be very rewarding for many years to come. I always highly recommend exploring the whole set of offerings from Dr. Loosen, they are impeccably crafted and offer tons of personality and value across the board.
($60 Est.) 97 Points, grapelive