Dr. Loosen
Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Alte Reben GG
Urzig
2019

The producer

The Dr. Loosen estate has been in the same family for more than 200 years and is today regarded as one of the leading producers of Riesling in the Mosel. Ernst “Erni” Loosen assumed control in 1988 and set about revitalising the estate, focusing on its remarkable inheritance of old, ungrafted vines planted in some of the Middle Mosel’s finest vineyards. A member of the VDP since 1993, Dr. Loosen produces wines that combine intensity and complexity with the freshness, elegance and transparency characteristic of great Mosel Riesling.

Among the estate’s most distinctive sites is the Ürziger Würzgarten, or “spice garden”, which rises steeply above the village of Ürzig. Unlike the predominantly slate-based vineyards of the Mosel, the Würzgarten is formed from rare red volcanic sandstone, giving its wines an exotic and immediately recognisable character, often marked by ripe stone fruit, citrus, aromatic herbs and spice.

The Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Alte Reben GG comes from a special parcel known historically as Urglück, situated directly behind the village. Its ungrafted Riesling vines are more than 120 years old and grow on their original rootstocks, producing naturally small yields of exceptionally concentrated fruit. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts in traditional 1,000-litre Fuder casks, followed by 12 months on the full lees without bâtonnage.

Grosses Gewächs, abbreviated to GG, is the VDP designation for a dry wine produced from a classified Grosse Lage, equivalent to a grand cru vineyard. Dr. Loosen’s interpretation combines the Würzgarten’s characteristic richness and exotic spice with fine acidity, savoury minerality and a long, persistent finish, creating a powerful yet finely balanced expression of this unique Mosel terroir.

The wine

The Ürziger Würzgarten, or “spice garden”, is one of the Mosel’s most distinctive vineyards. Rising steeply above the village of Ürzig, its rare red volcanic sandstone soils produce Rieslings with an exotic character, combining ripe stone fruit and citrus with aromatic herbs, spice and fine minerality.

This Grosses Gewächs comes from the historic Urglück parcel, planted with ungrafted Riesling vines more than 120 years old. “Alte Reben” means old vines, while GG denotes a dry wine from a VDP-classified Grosse Lage—the German equivalent of a grand cru vineyard. Fermented in traditional Fuder casks and matured on its lees for 12 months, the wine combines concentration and richness with vibrant acidity, savoury complexity and a long, finely balanced finish.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.