2001 Riesling Auslese, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Dr. Loosen

A timeless Mosel classic from one of Germany’s most celebrated vineyards, the 2001 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese captures everything that makes Riesling so magical. The nose is pure radiance, layers of ripe peach, candied citrus, acacia honey and a whisper of petrol, all shimmering over cool blue slate minerality. The palate is sumptuous yet perfectly poised, with luscious sweetness balanced by crystalline acidity, creating that thrilling tension unique to great Mosel Riesling. After two decades in bottle, it has evolved into a golden, silken beauty - still vibrant, endlessly layered, and gracefully unhurried.

For when: you want to open something that makes you feels sparkle.
Pairs with: citrus tart, roasted apricots, or a quiet evening with Miles Davis.
If this wine were: a place, it’d be the Mosel at sunset - glowing, serene, eternal.

Dr. Loosen, based in Bernkastel, stands as a benchmark for fine German Riesling. The estate’s history spans over 200 years, but it was under the dynamic leadership of Ernst Loosen from the late 1980s that it achieved global acclaim. With old, ungrafted vines planted on impossibly steep slate slopes, the domaine produces wines that balance ripeness, purity and haunting finesse.

The Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard, with its perfect southwest exposure and blue Devonian slate soils, is the crown jewel of the Mosel, a site that consistently yields Rieslings of delicacy, perfume and age-worthy balance. In the stellar 2001 vintage, cool conditions and ideal botrytis created wines of crystalline structure and precision. This Auslese is the embodiment of that year: luminous fruit, elegant sweetness, and a finish that glides on endlessly - proof that Riesling, in the right hands, can outshine time itself.