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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
2019 Riesling Ürziger Würzgarten “Unterst Pichter” Grosses Gewächs Réserve, Dr Loosen

2019 Riesling Ürziger Würzgarten “Unterst Pichter” Grosses Gewächs Réserve, Dr Loosen

Mosel, Germany

Volcanic Spice

Powerful, exotic and wonderfully distinctive, this is dry Mosel Riesling from one of the region’s most unusual vineyards. Ripe peach, yellow plum and candied citrus are layered with wild herbs, white pepper and smoky mineral notes, while flashes of tropical fruit bring an almost exotic quality. Beneath it all is the unmistakable character of Ürziger Würzgarten: spicy, earthy and unlike the classic blue-slate Rieslings found elsewhere along the Middle Mosel.

The palate is concentrated and broad yet carries remarkable energy, with ripe citrus and stone fruit wrapped around vibrant acidity and a deep, rocky core. Twenty-four months on the full lees in traditional fuder builds texture and complexity, while prolonged bottle ageing allows the wine’s power to settle into something remarkably composed. The finish is exceptionally long, savoury and mineral, with spice, herbs and volcanic stone lingering well after the fruit has faded.

For when: You want Riesling at its most serious, unusual and dramatic.

Pairs with: Lobster, langoustines, scallops, roast turbot, Thai curry, aromatic Asian dishes, corn-fed chicken, veal sweetbreads, pork, mushroom dishes, mature Comté, Beaufort or Taleggio.

Ürziger Würzgarten translates as the Spice Garden of Ürzig, an appropriate name for a vineyard renowned for unusually exotic and spicy Riesling. The spectacularly steep site forms a natural amphitheatre around a bend in the Mosel and is immediately recognisable by its vivid red soils. Unlike the predominantly slate-based vineyards surrounding it, Würzgarten contains weathered volcanic material rich in iron, giving the earth its distinctive colour and the wines their highly individual character.

Unterst Pichter is the historic Gewann, or named parcel, from which this Réserve comes. The name identifies a section in the lower part of the vineyard. Dr Loosen’s vines here are at least 130 years old, making them the estate’s oldest vines in Ürzig. They remain ungrafted on their original roots and are cultivated entirely by hand because of the extraordinary gradient.

Whats in the bottle
Riesling 100%

Notable Awards
99 Points, James Suckling

£89.95 - £89.95
£89.95
£89.95 - £89.95
£89.95
Availability:
In stock

Dr Loosen is one of the defining estates of the Mosel and one of the producers most closely associated with the modern revival of German Riesling. The Loosen family has owned vineyards in the region for more than 200 years, with Ernst “Ernie” Loosen taking charge in 1988. The estate has been a member of the prestigious VDP since 1993.

Ernie inherited a remarkable collection of very old, frequently ungrafted Riesling vines planted in some of the Middle Mosel’s finest historic vineyards. His philosophy has centred on allowing individual vineyard character to take precedence, with lower yields, meticulous hand selection and restrained cellar work designed to reveal differences in soil and site.

The GG Réserve programme is one of the estate’s most ambitious projects. Inspired by the quality and longevity of dry Rieslings made by earlier generations of the Loosen family, the wines are produced only from selected parcels of very old, ungrafted vines within VDP.Grosse Lage vineyards. The programme began with the 2011 vintage, and today includes selected wines from Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Ürziger Würzgarten and Erdener Prälat.

Rather than following the normal release schedule for Grosses Gewächs, these Réserve wines receive dramatically extended maturation. They ferment spontaneously in traditional old fuder and remain on the full lees for two years before prolonged bottle ageing. The result is a deeper, more textural and slower-evolving interpretation of dry Mosel Riesling.

For customers, Unterst Pichter is particularly compelling because it shows a completely different face of the Mosel. Instead of the cool, stony character associated with blue slate, the red volcanic soils of Würzgarten create something richer, spicier and more exotic, while the extraordinary age of the vines brings impressive depth and persistence.

The 2019 Unterst Pichter Réserve is produced from 100% Riesling grown in the steep Unterst Pichter parcel of Ürziger Würzgarten. The vines are at least 130 years old and ungrafted, surviving on their original rootstocks in rocky soils where phylloxera has struggled to establish itself.

The site consists of highly unusual weathered volcanic material with a high iron content, which gives the vineyard its striking red appearance. This geology is exceptional within the Mosel and contributes to the vineyard’s characteristic spicy, earthy and exotic profile.

The extreme gradient means virtually all vineyard work must be carried out manually. Each vine is traditionally trained to an individual pole using the classic Mosel single-post system. The old vines can flower unevenly, resulting in millerandage, where small seedless berries develop alongside normally sized fruit. These smaller berries have a high skin-to-juice ratio, while loose bunches improve airflow and can reduce susceptibility to botrytis, allowing a long period of healthy ripening.

The grapes were hand harvested and carefully selected, then left on their skins overnight. This short period of skin contact helps build texture and moderate the impression of Riesling’s naturally pronounced acidity. The fruit was then gently pressed and transferred into traditional German oak fuder of 1,000 and 3,000 litres.

Fermentation occurred spontaneously using wild yeasts under temperature-controlled conditions. After fermentation, the wine remained in fuder on its full lees for 24 months without bâtonnage, giving it significantly more time in cask than a conventional Grosses Gewächs.

The supplied technical sheet records that the wine was subsequently lightly filtered, bottled and cellared for a further three years before release. Dr Loosen’s current estate description of the 2019 Réserve programme specifies four years of bottle ageing, so there is a source discrepancy; for this exact UK SKU I would retain the three-year specification provided on the linked technical sheet.

The 2019 vintage began with a warm spring and developed into a hot summer, making careful canopy management essential. August rain brought welcome relief, while warm September days and cool nights helped concentrate flavour without sacrificing acidity. The estate reported fruit arriving at harvest in excellent condition, with impressive intensity and delicate acidity.

At 13.0% alcohol and 9 g/L residual sugar according to the supplied technical sheet, the finished wine is firmly dry. It is broader and more powerful than many classic Mosel Rieslings, yet the acidity and mineral structure prevent it from becoming heavy. Ancient vines, volcanic soils and extended maturation combine to create a Riesling of remarkable depth, spice and longevity.