2008 Carl Loewen Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Spätlese

Loewen’s 2008 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Spatlese represents an assemblage of an early picking with a very late picking that he had originally envisioned as Auslese. Orange blossom, heliotrope, lemon oil, tangerine, and blood orange in the nose migrate onto a wafting, infectiously juicy though subtly creamy palate whose vivacity and startling transparency to saline and stony mineral as well as floral nuances make it hard to believe that around a quarter of the fruit here was botrytized. But while clarity, levity, and minerality represent one side of this multi-faceted Riesling, it also has the aspect of a yeasty, buttery, vanilla- and nut paste-filled pastry in a luscious and invigorating citrus sauce. “Precisely the botrytis is what makes for the wine’s sense of interplay,” opines Loewen, and play – with your palate, your mind, your affections – this certainly does! You could plan on following some for as long as 20-25 years. Karl-Josef Loewen associates the measurably high dry extracts of his 2008s with their ability to buffer high acids but also to convey mineral characteristics. He was pleased to point out that not one of his dry wines reached 12% alcohol this vintage, and only partly on account of that vintage itself. Especially with his oldest vines, pruning for multiple short canes and de-leafing at critical junctures are among the techniques being employed to diminish the accretion of sugar and maximize flavor. Small berries and clusters are also critical, says Loewen, who does not believe in green harvesting. “The trick,” he opines, “is to make little wine from many bunches, rather than little wine from few bunches.” Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300