2007 Erdener Pralat Auslese

Pungent sassafras, white pepper, and orange zest strike the nose from Loosen’s 2007 Erdener Pralat Rieslng Auslese. In the mouth, too, pungency – along with citric brightness – is the invigorating theme. This seems an extreme example of the “new style” Schug adopted for Loosen Pralat beginning with the 2003 vintage (based on earlier picking and an attempt to maximize fresh fruit). Ironically – especially given the potential of the vintage – I find myself wanting a sense of creaminess where this is relatively spare in texture. Still, the delicacy and fresh fruit intensity on display here are in themselves highly impressive, and the finish is strong and invigorating in its citrus and spice, adeptly countering the wine’s high residual sugar. I suspect a more sensually alluring and complex personality will develop in the course of what should be at least a 20 year evolution of this wine. Despite slightly disappointing dry wines, and Kabinetts and nobly sweet wines that do not reach the heights established in those genres by this estate’s 2005s and 2006s respectively, Ernst Loosen and his cellar-master Bernard Schug have nonetheless scored considerable success in 2007, a vintage they describe as temperamentally between 2005 and 2004. As regards style and success rate, the comparison with 2004 seems about right to me. Harvest began already in the first week of October, but as usual at this address with its enormous acreage of top-notch vineyards, the early phase was taken up principally with highly selective picking for nobly sweet wine. “From the first day to the last,” comments Loosen, “each picker gets two tubs” for separating qualities of fruit. “And there were shriveled, TBA-quality grapes already on the first day this year,” adds Schug. Importer: Loosen Brothers, Portland, OR tel. (510) 864-7255

Slightly cheesy nose and then dense and rich with a hint of bergamot. Delicate and herbal. (JR)

Pungent sassafras, white pepper, and orange zest strike the nose from Loosen’s 2007 Erdener Pralat Rieslng Auslese. In the mouth, too, pungency – along with citric brightness – is the invigorating theme. This seems an extreme example of the “new style” Schug adopted for Loosen Pralat beginning with the 2003 vintage (based on earlier picking and an attempt to maximize fresh fruit). Ironically – especially given the potential of the vintage – I find myself wanting a sense of creaminess where this is relatively spare in texture. Still, the delicacy and fresh fruit intensity on display here are in themselves highly impressive, and the finish is strong and invigorating in its citrus and spice, adeptly countering the wine’s high residual sugar. I suspect a more sensually alluring and complex personality will develop in the course of what should be at least a 20 year evolution of this wine. ||Despite slightly disappointing dry wines, and Kabinetts and nobly sweet wines that do not reach the heights established in those genres by this estate’s 2005s and 2006s respectively, Ernst Loosen and his cellar-master Bernard Schug have nonetheless scored considerable success in 2007, a vintage they describe as temperamentally between 2005 and 2004. As regards style and success rate, the comparison with 2004 seems about right to me. Harvest began already in the first week of October, but as usual at this address with its enormous acreage of top-notch vineyards, the early phase was taken up principally with highly selective picking for nobly sweet wine. “From the first day to the last,” comments Loosen, “each picker gets two tubs” for separating qualities of fruit. “And there were shriveled, TBA-quality grapes already on the first day this year,” adds Schug. eRobertParker.com.June, 2009