2007 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett

Even more than the corresponding Bernkasteler, Loosen’s 2007 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett manages a classic Mosel balancing act. It seems practically weightless, yet the high residual sugar that comes with a ripe-tasting Riesling of only 7.5% alcohol never becomes obvious, much less does it get in the way. Normandy cider, lily, and apple blossom waft throughout, and to say that this wine is almost watery is to compliment its lightness and its finish of utmost transparency to saline, wet stone, and somehow shimmering nuances. I have to agree with Schug’s characterization: “With some 2007s you have to ask yourself ‘Where is the alcohol at all?’” This excellent value should cellar well for at least a decade. 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