2022 Dr. Loosen Blue Slate Kabinett

A brisk, juicy, low-alcohol Kabinett-style Riesling from ancient Devonian slate soils in the Mosel valley.This classic Mosel Kabinett is harvested from cooler, high-elevation parcels owned by Dr. Loosen in the villages of Bernkastel, Graach and Wehlen. The wine is bright and pure with the vibrant white peach fruit and a floral, flinty minerality that is so typical from blue slate. A plush attack on the mid-palate leads to a deliciously firm, delicate finish. This wine makes an elegant aperitif and is an excellent match for seafood, spicy Asian cuisine and lighter dishes. 

Dr. Loosen is one of the most highly acclaimed wine estates in the world. In the family for over 200 years, Ernst “Erni” Loosen assumed ownership in 1988 and quickly propelled the reputation of Dr. Loosen into the highest echelon of Germany’s finest producers. With a focus on the old, ungrafted vines the estate owns in some of the Mosel valley’s best-rated vineyards, the wines clearly express their cool-climate origins through environmentally sensitive viticulture, strict harvest selection and gentle cellar practices.

The 2020 growing season and harvest both got off to an early start in the Mosel, but ended up giving us picture-perfect fruit for excellent dry wines, as well as brilliant off-dry and medium-sweet wines at the lower end of the Prädikat spectrum. When describing the 2020 vintage overall, our cellar master, Bernhard Schug, summed it up best by simply calling it “a Kabinett/Spätlese year.” Erni concludes that “the 2020 vintage should be a showcase for the typical mineral structure of Mosel Riesling.”