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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
2024 Graacher Riesling Dry, Dr Loosen

2024 Graacher Riesling Dry, Dr Loosen

Mosel, Germany

Juniper Slate

Fresh, savoury and unusually complex for a village Riesling, this Graacher opens with pineapple, citrus and white peach before moving into aniseed herbs, juniper, smoke and a creamy almond note. Graach’s weathered blue slate gives the wine a cool mineral backbone and distinctly saline edge, while old ungrafted vines add concentration without sacrificing the elegant, lifted character of Mosel Riesling.

The palate is juicy and beautifully composed, with lively acidity cutting through a creamy texture developed during long lees ageing in traditional fuder. Citrus and ripe yellow fruit meet herbs, smoke and mineral salinity on a long, animated finish. This is a significant step up from regional Riesling, offering genuine village character, traditional winemaking and enough structure to work seriously well at the table.

For when: You want dry Riesling with texture, herbal complexity and unmistakable Mosel character.

Pairs with: Grilled trout, scallops, sushi, veal, vegetable risotto, roast chicken, smoked fish, alpine cheeses or herb-led dishes.

Graach sits on the steep slopes of the Middle Mosel, where weathered blue Devonian slate dominates the vineyards. Dr Loosen sources this VDP. Ortswein from the Abtsberg sector of Graacher Himmelreich, using 30-year-old ungrafted Riesling vines. The site’s extremely stony soils, steep gradients and heat-reflecting slate help grapes achieve flavour ripeness while maintaining the vivid acidity for which Mosel Riesling is renowned.

Whats in the bottle
Riesling 100%

Notable Awards
93 Points, James Suckling

£24.95 - £24.95
£24.95
£24.95 - £24.95
£24.95
Availability:
In stock

Dr Loosen is one of the defining estates of the modern Mosel, with the Loosen family having owned vineyards in the region for more than 200 years. Ernst “Ernie” Loosen took charge in 1988 and quickly focused the estate around vineyard identity, old vines and the extraordinary slate terroirs of the Middle Mosel.

The family was fortunate to inherit numerous mature, ungrafted Riesling vineyards, including holdings in some of the region’s most celebrated sites. Ernst reduced yields and placed greater emphasis on vineyard health, hand selection and traditional techniques that allow differences in soil and exposure to remain clear in the finished wines.

Dr Loosen has been a member of the VDP since 1993, and nine of its estate vineyards are classified as Grosse Lage. The range stretches from approachable regional bottlings through village-level Ortswein such as this Graacher Riesling to some of Germany’s most serious single-vineyard dry and naturally sweet wines.

For customers, the Graacher Riesling is an excellent middle ground: more detailed, textured and site-specific than the estate wines, while remaining wonderfully approachable and versatile.

The 2024 Graacher Riesling Dry is made from 100% Riesling grown around the village of Graach in the Middle Mosel. It is classified as VDP.Ortswein, broadly comparable to a village wine in Burgundy, with the fruit coming specifically from the Abtsberg sector of the Graacher Himmelreich vineyard.

The vines are around 30 years old and ungrafted. They grow on extraordinarily steep slopes dominated by weathered blue Devonian slate with very little topsoil. The slate reflects sunlight into the vine canopy and stores daytime warmth before releasing it at night, helping Riesling ripen in the Mosel’s cool climate. The steepness of the vineyards means pruning and harvesting must be carried out by hand.

The 2024 season was demanding. A warm February prompted early budbreak before damaging April frosts and later hail substantially reduced the crop. A cool, wet summer brought further disease pressure and difficult flowering. Careful vineyard work proved essential, and the healthy fruit that survived was harvested from mid-September, producing wines with lively fruit and excellent freshness.

Fermentation took place spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in traditional 1,000-litre German oak fuder. These neutral oval casks encourage the lees to remain in suspension and allow gentle micro-oxygenation without giving the wine obvious oak flavour. The Riesling then remained on its fine lees in neutral fuder for 12 months. Alcohol is 12%, residual sugar is 8.7 g/L and the wine is bottled with a natural closure.

The finished wine combines pineapple and citrus with aniseed herbs, almond cream, smoke and juniper. Long lees ageing brings a creamy, structured middle palate, while Riesling’s acidity and the blue-slate soils keep the finish lively, saline and precise. It is drinking beautifully now, particularly with fish and vegetable dishes, but has enough structure and acidity to develop further.