Dr. Loosen Erdener Pralat Alte Reben Grosses Gewachs Reserve 2014
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Erni Loosen has quickly established himself as one the premier GG producers in the Mosel Valley. This Erdener Pralat GG Reserve is sourced from a 90-year-old parcel, is meticulously hand-picked, fermented bone dry from immaculate, botrytis-free fruit. It is fermented and aged in neutral oak, and garners it reserve status by being aged for 24 months on the lees, then spends another two years in bottle before release. Erdener Pralat is Loosen’s finest vineyard and this wine has it all: Majestic aromas and flavors of orange marmalade, dried apricot, kiwi, pink grapefruit, beeswax and wet stone. Extraordinary creamy texture from the extended lees aging leads to a medium-bodied elixir with a long, persistent finish.
This is serious juice and can stand up to highly seasoned chicken, pork and seafood dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Erdener Prälat Riesling GG Réserve Alte Reben is clear, refined and aromatic on the precise, delicate and highly finessed nose that indicates ripe and elegant Riesling fruit with very fine red slate aromas. Full-bodied yet filigreed, crystalline and salty on the palate, this is a powerful, intense and rich yet refined and stimulatingly salty Prälat based on entirely healthy grapes. The finish is very long, intense and powerful yet remains crystalline and stimulating and still asks us to be patient: The best is yet to come. Tasted at the domain in September 2020.
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James Suckling
A masterpiece for this difficult vintage. Stunning aromas of tree fruits. Very concentrated, creamy and polished but not a jot too heavy. This wine impresses all the way through the very long and silky finish.
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Tasting Panel
Dry, fresh, and tangy yet creamy, with racy citrus and ripe peach; balanced, pure, and long.
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Wine Spectator
Shows lots of up-front zest, with flavors of lemon curd and ripe lime accented by some custardy hints. Notes of dried mint and sage emerge on the mouthwatering finish, revealing bacon fat details.
The Dr. Loosen Estate has been in the same family for over 200 years. With ungrafted vines averaging 50 years old, some of the best vineyard sites in Germany (four rated grand cru and two premier cru by both the 1868 German classification and the more current Wine Atlas of Germany), Ernst Loosen has the raw materials for stunningly intense, world-class wines. With crop yields almost half of what is permitted by law, only moderate use of organic fertilizers, and old-fashioned cellar practices, Loosen strives to create wines that unmistakably say, "Riesling, Mosel, and Dr. Loosen." In his own words, "The great winemakers I have met invariably possess a clear concept in their mind of what their wine should be. It's a vision that places terroir over technology, and grape quality over quantity. This is the level of winemaking we pursue at Dr. Loosen. Our goal is to produce wines that are luscious, complex, and true to their roots."
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Following the Mosel River as it slithers and weaves dramatically through the Eifel Mountains in Germany’s far west, the Mosel wine region is considered by many as the source of the world’s finest and longest-lived Rieslings.
Mosel’s unique and unsurpassed combination of geography, geology and climate all combine together to make this true. Many of the Mosel’s best vineyard sites are on the steep south or southwest facing slopes, where vines receive up to ten times more sunlight, a very desirable condition in this cold climate region. Given how many twists and turns the Mosel River makes, it is not had to find a vineyard with this exposure. In fact, the Mosel’s breathtakingly steep slopes of rocky, slate-based soils straddle the riverbanks along its entire length. These rocky slate soils, as well as the river, retain and reflect heat back to the vineyards, a phenomenon that aids in the complete ripening of its grapes.
Riesling is by far the most important and prestigious grape of the Mosel, grown on approximately 60% of the region’s vineyard land—typically on the desirable sites that provide the best combination of sunlight, soil type and altitude. The best Mosel Rieslings—dry or sweet—express marked acidity, low alcohol, great purity and intensity with aromas and flavors of wet slate, citrus and stone fruit. With age, the wine’s color will become more golden and pleasing aromas of honey, dried apricot and sometimes petrol develop.
Other varieties planted in the Mosel include Müller-Thurgau, Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), all performing quite well here.