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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 Lösnicher Försterlay Grosses Gewächs Riesling, Dr Loosen

2024 Lösnicher Försterlay Grosses Gewächs Riesling, Dr Loosen

Mosel, Germany

Slate Spine

Concentrated, stony and beautifully controlled, this is dry Mosel Riesling with real presence. Ripe white peach, pear and green apple meet lime zest, white flowers and crushed slate, with a cool mineral edge keeping the fruit firmly in focus. The steep Försterlay slope gives the wine both intensity and freshness, while the 2024 vintage brings a particularly lively, precise feel.

The palate is fuller and more structured than Dr Loosen’s regional Rieslings, but never heavy. Citrus and stone fruit are wrapped around bright acidity, fine lees texture and a long, salty mineral finish. A year in neutral fuder adds shape and harmony without obvious oak flavour.

For when: A serious dinner needs dry Riesling with mineral depth, precision and proper vineyard character.

Pairs with: Grilled turbot, trout, roast chicken with herbs, schnitzel, scallops, charred vegetables, Asian dishes with gentle spice or mature goat’s cheese.

Lösnicher Försterlay rises steeply above the Mosel near the village of Lösnich. Slopes reach around 60%, and the vineyard runs close to the river, giving the vines excellent exposure and a long growing season. It is Dr Loosen’s second-smallest Grosse Lage holding, and the combination of mature vines, steep terrain and weathered slate produces Rieslings known for clear structure, mineral precision and freshness.

Whats in the bottle
Riesling 100%

£37.00 - £37.00
£37.00
£37.00 - £37.00
£37.00
Availability:
In stock

Dr Loosen is one of the defining estates of the Middle 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.

Ernst inherited an extraordinary collection of mature and often ungrafted Riesling vines in some of the Mosel’s most important vineyards. His approach has always centred on site, reducing yields and using restrained cellar techniques to allow the differences between individual slopes and slate soils to remain clear.

Dr Loosen has been a member of the VDP since 1993. Its top dry wines carry the Grosses Gewächs designation and come from classified Grosse Lage vineyards, with strict yields, selective hand harvesting and extended maturation before release.

For customers, Försterlay GG represents the serious dry end of the range: more structured, concentrated and cellar-worthy than the regional wines, but still unmistakably Mosel in its freshness and lightness of touch.

The 2024 Lösnicher Försterlay Grosses Gewächs is made from 100% Riesling. The vines are approximately 35 to 38 years old and grow on the steep south-facing Försterlay slope above the Mosel. The vineyard reaches down towards the river, with vines rooted deeply into fractured weathered slate. Maximum yields are restricted to 50 hectolitres per hectare, and both pruning and harvesting are carried out by hand.

The 2024 season was challenging. A warm February encouraged early budbreak before damaging April frost and later hail reduced the potential crop. A cool, wet summer brought further disease pressure and difficult flowering. Rigorous vineyard work was essential, but the healthy fruit harvested from mid-September showed lively flavour and excellent freshness.

After gentle pressing, the must was transferred to large neutral German oak fuder ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 litres. Fermentation occurred spontaneously with wild yeasts. The wine then remained in the same neutral oak vessels on its lees for 12 months without bâtonnage, allowing texture and complexity to develop without adding overt oak flavour.

Alcohol is 12.5% and residual sugar is 9 g/L. The wine is bottled under natural closure and contains sulphites. Winemaking is overseen by Berni Schug and Ernst Loosen.

The finished wine is dry, concentrated and mineral, with ripe stone fruit, citrus and crushed-slate character carried by vibrant acidity. Long lees ageing gives the palate added breadth, while the neutral fuder keeps the fruit and site firmly in focus. It is impressive now with food, but the acidity, concentration and GG structure make further bottle development particularly appealing.