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Buy any 6 bottles and save 5%. Buy any 12 bottles and save 10% (excludes wines on offer). Free UK delivery on orders over £100. Tel: 02922 337454
Buy any 6 bottles and save 5%. Buy any 12 bottles and save 10% (excludes wines on offer). Free UK delivery on orders over £100. Tel: 02922 337454
2025 Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett, Dr Loosen

2025 Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett, Dr Loosen

Mosel, Germany

Slate Dancer

Light, fragrant and wonderfully precise, this is classic Mosel Kabinett with an extra touch of depth from Bernkasteler Lay. Green apple and cassis meet delicate flowers, cool mint and flinty slate, giving the wine a wonderfully fresh, almost weightless aromatic character. The vineyard’s deeper blue-slate soils bring a little more texture, but everything remains bright, lifted and beautifully controlled.

On the palate, it is juicy and delicately sweet, with crisp acidity cutting through the ripe fruit and keeping the 43 g/L of residual sugar remarkably refreshing. At only 8% alcohol, it feels effortless and light on its feet, finishing with apple, cassis, mint and a cool mineral edge. This is the sort of Riesling that makes sweetness feel elegant, balancing fruit, acidity and low alcohol with genuine precision.

For when: You want something light, elegant and refreshing enough to make the bottle disappear quickly.

Pairs with: Thai curry, spicy prawns, sushi, Vietnamese salads, pork belly, fresh goat’s cheese or gently spiced Asian dishes.

Bernkasteler Lay is a celebrated vineyard immediately outside Bernkastel, running beside the Mosel close to the Dr Loosen estate. “Lay” is an old dialect word for slate, and the vineyard’s weathered blue-slate soils are deeper and slightly heavier than many neighbouring sites. Its gentler slope and river-influenced microclimate tend to produce Rieslings with generous fruit and texture, balanced by firm, linear acidity.

Whats in the bottle
Riesling 100%

£18.95 - £18.95
£18.95
£18.95 - £18.95
£18.95
Availability:
In stock

Dr Loosen is one of the defining names of the modern Mosel, with the Loosen family having owned vineyards in the region for more than 200 years. Ernst “Ernie” Loosen took charge of the estate in 1988 and placed renewed emphasis on vineyard identity, low yields and the remarkable slate terroirs of the Middle Mosel.

The estate owns vines in a collection of highly regarded sites, with nine vineyards designated Grosse Lage by the VDP. Dr Loosen has been a member of the VDP since 1993 and has built an international reputation around Riesling in many forms, from light Kabinett wines through to powerful dry wines and long-lived noble sweet styles.

The estate’s philosophy is centred on allowing soil, climate and grape variety to speak clearly rather than imposing a heavy cellar signature. Careful selection in the vineyard is especially important for Prädikat wines, where picking dates determine the delicate balance of ripeness, sweetness and acidity.

For customers, Bernkasteler Lay Kabinett offers one of the most charming expressions of that philosophy: low in alcohol, beautifully fresh and distinctly shaped by its blue-slate vineyard.

The 2025 Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett is made from 100% Riesling grown in the Bernkasteler Lay vineyard, directly beside the Mosel between the Dr Loosen family home and the village of Bernkastel.

The vineyard is based on weathered blue slate, with soils that are somewhat deeper and heavier than those found in some neighbouring Middle Mosel sites. Looser underlying layers provide drainage, while the nearby river moderates temperatures and creates favourable conditions for ripening. Bernkasteler Lay is also somewhat gentler in gradient than many of Dr Loosen’s steepest vineyards. Pruning and harvesting are carried out by hand, allowing the picking team to make detailed selections according to ripeness.

Kabinett is the lightest traditional Prädikat style, and these grapes are among the first to be harvested, while sugar levels remain modest and acidity is still particularly vivid. For the 2025 wine, fermentation was stopped by chilling the fermenting must and filtering out active yeast cells. Vinification and maturation took place entirely in stainless-steel tanks, followed by sterile filtration before bottling.

The finished wine has 8.0% alcohol and 43 g/L residual sugar. That combination creates a delicately sweet style, but the naturally bright Mosel acidity keeps the wine fresh and lively rather than heavy. Green apple, cassis, mint and floral notes lead into a light, dancing finish. It is already highly enjoyable and particularly useful with spicy food, while Riesling’s acidity should also allow graceful development in bottle.