2006 Urziger Wurzgarten Kabinett

The apple cider-like nose and flavors of the 2006 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett are enticing and refreshing by turns, if not especially site-typical. Invigoratingly sappy and saline, impeccably balanced, with tart hints of fruit skin complementing a hint of textural creaminess, the finish of this excellent value is truly grin-inspiring, and you won’t need to wipe the smile off of your face for at least a decade. How heartening for those of us enamored of the Kabinett style, to realize that wines like this can be rendered even in a vintage of extreme ripeness and rot. “Even so,” Loosen points out, “it’s crazy that nowadays you have to make a selection “Auslese” in order to harvest ‘lesser,’ light wines.” And you can tell he is thinking about the economics of Kabinett. It almost seems as if these wines should sell at a premium nowadays relative to Spatlese, but consumers are wedded to the concept of “Kabinett” – insofar as such wines still exist, or some Riesling is still so-labeled – as the “entry level” Pradikat. The trick is to permit higher yields for the sake of lower must weights, without sacrificing flavor. Featuring the herbal rather than citrus side of this site’s personality, Ernst Loosen, Bernard Schug, and their team finished their harvest on October 6, before many growers had even begun. “Thank goodness we were able to bring 15 people up from Weingut J. L. Wolf in the Pfalz,” says Loosen about the hectic and heroic day-and-night harvest of 2006. “We’ve never before had 50 people out there in the vineyards.” “Those guys from the Pfalz had just plain had it at the end, I can tell you,” adds Schug, without a trace of humor. But he brightens when assessing the vintage as a whole. “I considered the 2005s the best collection of my career, but at this stage, I don’t think 2006 as a whole is weaker.” During the past three vintages in his collaborative work with Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington State, Loosen points out, he has moved on to their harvest after that of his own estate in the “cool climate ‘Old World.’” Importer: Loosen Brothers, Portland, OR; tel. (510) 864-7255